Asphalt Review - Volume 28 Number 3 - Australian Asphalt ...

AsphaltReview 

• FROM THE AAPA CEO 

• FROM THE AAPA CHAIRMAN 

• NO LINK BETWEEN BITUMEN FUMES AND LUNG CANCER 

• ALICE SPRINGS AIRPORT RUNWAY ASPHALT OVERLAY 

• SAY NO TO BITUMEN BANDITS 

• ASPHALT A CRITICAL COMPONENT OF ALL TRANSPORT 

INFRASTRUCTURE: RAILS RIDING ON ASPHALT 

• ASPHALT NEWS 

Volume 28 Number 3 October/ November 2009 

AAPA 

CONFERENCE 

GUIDE 

PAVEMENTS 

FOR TODAY: 

13TH 

INTERNATIONAL 

FLEXIBLE 

PAVEMENTS 

CONFERENCE

Contents 

24 From the AAPA CEO 

25 From the AAPA Chairman 

26 AAPA Conference Guide - Pavements for Today: 13th International Flexible Pavements Conference 

27 - Keynote Speakers 

27 - Conference Sponsors 

28 - Abstracts of Conference Presentations 

40 - Conference Exhibitors 

46 No Link Between Bitumen Fumes and Lung Cancer 

48 Alice Springs Airport Runway Asphalt Overlay 

53 Say NO to Bitumen Bandits 

54 Asphalt a Critical Component of all Transport Infrastructure: Rails Riding on Asphalt 

57 International Issues Affecting the Asphalt Industry 

59 Asphalt News 

Work crews on the job throughout the night to complete the 2.4 kilometre runway at Alice Springs Airport. See story on page 48 of 

Asphalt Review. 

ROADS OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2009 23

ASPHALT REVIEW 

CEO’s REPORT 

Once every two years AAPA holds a 

major flexible pavement conference and 

this year the Conference is being held in 

the Marriot on the Gold Coast. 

This year’s event is also an 

International conference, that is, a 

conference where major international 

speakers are invited to discuss some of 

the new and exciting international activities 

occurring in our industry. Many 

international attendees also attend to 

learn about the developments occurring 

in Australia. 

This year’s conference will be one of 

the best ever held, with key note 

addresses from many key international 

and Australian speakers. 

There is information on the event in 

this edition of Asphalt Review but it is 

worth highlighting a couple of the 

speakers. 

Firstly Dr Don Brock will be known to 

many people in our industry as the 

Founder and Chairman of the Board of 

Astec, one of the world’s major suppliers 

of Asphalt Plants. Don has been involved 

with the Asphalt industry for many 

years and will talk about the growth of 

our industry. I am sure he will also talk 

Asphalt Review reports on the flexible 

pavements and bituminous surfacing 

industry in Australia and New Zealand. It 

is published by ROADS Magazine on 

behalf of Australian Asphalt Pavement 

Association Limited (ABN 31 000 770 

123), a non-profit organisation formed to 

promote the economic use of asphalt and 

other bituminous bound products based 

on sound technical and commercial 

grounds for the benefit of its members, 

their customers and the community. 

Articles in Asphalt Review may be 

reprinted provided acknowledgement is 

given. Contributions of a news or 

technical nature on all aspects of asphalt 

and bituminous surfacing are welcome. 

24 ROADS OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2009 

about the emerging importance of new 

issues such as environment protection. 

Don’s paper will be a fascinating 

discussion of our industry and one not 

to be missed. 

We are also fortunate to have three of 

the world’s most significant scientists 

and researchers working in our 

industry. These are Dr Ramon 

Bonaquist, Chief Operating Officer of 

Advanced Asphalt Technologies (AAT) 

(US), Dr Manfred Partl, President of the 

International Society for Asphalt 

Pavements (ISAP) (Switzerland) and Dr 

Randy West, Director of the US 

National Centre for Asphalt 

Technologies (NCAT) (US). Added to 

this are some of our own experts 

including Dr Nigel Preston (Shell); Jon 

Oxford (Qld Department of Transport 

and Main Roads), Ian Rickards (Pioneer 

Road Services) and of course Walter 

Holtrop (AAPA). 

The conference “Pavements for 

Today” provides an opportunity for 

members of our industry to meet and 

hear a wide range of speakers as well as 

inspecting the associated major 

exhibition of flexible pavement 

equipment, products and services. Its 

ADMINISTRATION 

AAPA Head Office 

Level 2, 

5 Wellington Street 

Kew, Vic 3101 

Tel: (03) 9853 3595 

Fax: (03) 9853 3484 

Email: info@aapa.asn.au 

Website: www.aapa.asn.au 

Asphalt Review 

Editor: Rex Pannell 

Email rex.pannell@halledit.com.au 

Advertising: Yuri Mamistvalov 

Email yuri@halledit.com.au 

Tel: (03) 8534 5008 

John Lambert, 

CEO, AAPA 

certainly an event not to be missed. 

Partners will also enjoy the partners 

events and social functions. 

The Conference coincides with the 

40th Anniversary of AAPA. This is a 

unique milestone highlighting the 

importance, effectiveness and relevance 

of AAPA, bringing together private and 

government industry members with the 

common goal of high quality roads. 

The anniversary celebrates the past, 

but also highlights the opportunities 

and challenges for the future such as a 

greater emphasis on environmental 

Continued over page 

The Asphalt Review Magazine, 

prepared by the Australian Asphalt 

Pavement Association (AAPA) is now 

also produced as a supplement in the 

ROADS magazine. To gain access to 

a broader readership, AAPA has 

undertaken to publish within ROADS, 

but its content will maintain the 

uniqueness and specialty focus on 

flexible pavements that Asphalt 

Review has provided for over 25 

years. Availability of this and future 

issues of the Asphalt Review will 

continue via the AAPA web site: 

www.aapa.asn.au in addition to its 

inclusion in ROADS magazine. 

The publishing schedule is: 

February-March; June-July; and 

October-November.

CHAIRMAN’s REPORT 

This edition of Asphalt Review 

highlights the upcoming AAPA 13th 

International Flexible Pavements 

Conference. I therefore won’t say 

anything about the conference other 

than to emphasise the important role 

that AAPA plays in keeping our industry 

informed. 

Instead, I would like to comment on 

the encouraging trend towards the 

development and application of 

consistent standards across our 

industry. 

Australia has a proud record in 

making some of the best roads in the 

world, roads that are often exposed to 

harsh conditions and extremes. This 

includes areas in the north with long 

hot dry periods followed by very wet 

tropical periods. In other areas such as 

Tasmania and the mountains in 

Victoria and southern NSW there are 

periods of snow followed by hot dry 

summers. To meet these challenges 

efficiently and effectively industry and 

government must work together to 

develop and apply appropriate 

standards. 

Continued from previous page 

issues and the increased need for the 

consistent application of appropriate 

standards. 

We will also continue to look for new 

ways to support reliable transport 

infrastructure, one of which could be 

to use asphalt in railway track 

construction. In this edition of Asphalt 

Review there is an article on the 

benefits of asphalt in rail track 

construction, highlighting the increase 

carrying capacity, increase speed and 

longer life of asphalt. 

Health and safety has been a major 

issue over the first 40 years of AAPA 

and will remain a very high priority for 

all AAPA members. This edition of 

Asphalt Review highlights the 

completion of a major study that 

confirmed that bitumen fumes do not 

cause lung cancer. Our industry will 

always continue to ensure the highest 

standard of health and safety for 

employees. While we recognise that 

there are relatively few incidents, we 

These standards must be based on 

informed views and accurate information. 

AAPA therefore worked with 

Austroads to support in the development 

of the new Austroads Guide to 

Pavement Technology. AAPA also 

supports the decision of all state road 

authorities to apply those guidelines, 

unless there are good reasons to vary 

them to meet particular regional 

needs. 

AAPA is also working with Austroads 

to develop a protocol for the trialling of 

warm mix asphalt technologies. In the 

US and Europe, there is significant 

warm mix asphalt being used and we 

can learn from that experience. 

However, it is appropriate and 

necessary that we also conduct trials in 

Australia to show that these 

technologies can meet the needs of our 

vast country. Once finalised, the 

protocol will enable trials in one state 

to be used by other state road authorities 

and industry to leverage and build 

knowledge assessing the outcomes of 

the different methods. 

must constantly remind ourselves that 

working with a hot material such as 

bitumen and close to heavy equipment 

does pose risks. Working close to 

moving traffic also poses risks and we 

must continue to be vigilant and aim 

for no injuries at work. 

I have often said that I am proud to 

work in the flexible pavement industry. 

We produce high quality products, 

have an enviable health and safety 

record and are a low greenhouse 

industry. The surfaces we make are 

long lasting and fully recyclable 

providing safe and reliable links across 

our whole country. Another reason to 

be proud of our industry is that the 

vast majority of people working in it 

are committed to providing high 

quality work and the resurfacing of the 

Alice Springs Airport is an example of 

the quality of work by a major AAPA 

Producer member. 

But there is a small group that often 

operate in outer or rural areas who 


Louis Nucifora, 

Chairman, AAPA 

In such a large country with a 

relatively small population we should 

not waste resources and time by duplicating 

research. AAPA will therefore 

continue to support a national 

approach to uniformity in all areas 

relevant to our industry including 

those relating to technical standards, 

health and safety and the 

environment. 

I look forward to meeting you at the 

Conference 

take advantage of people by offering 

cheap work to the elderly and other 

unsuspecting people for immediate 

cash. They then deliver very 

substandard work, frequently 

charging significantly more than a 

normal quality job would have costed 

anyway. 

There is an article about these 

Bitumen Bandits in this edition of 

Asphalt Review and I encourage you to 

read it. I also encourage you to ensure 

that you do not support them by 

supplying material. To stamp these 

bandits out of our industry we all must 

ensure that they cannot obtain 

materials, equipment and assistance 

with cashing cheques. 

For those attending the 

Conference, I look forward to seeing 

you in the Gold Coast. For the rest 

we will be including some of the 

conference highlights in the next 

Asphalt Review. 



PAVEMENTS FOR TODAY: 

13TH INTERNATIONAL FLEXIBLE 

PAVEMENTS CONFERENCE 

AAPA’s 13th International Flexible 

Pavements Conference is undoubtedly 

the highlight of this year’s flexible 

pavements calendar. About 300 participants 

from Australia and overseas have 

gathered at the Marriott Surfers 

Paradise Resort in Queensland for the 

conference which is focusing primarily 

on technical issues associated with the 

flexible pavements industry. Technical 

papers are addressing issues such as 

specifications, procedures and 

equipment. 

Sustainability and the environment, 

and the global economic crisis are also 

being scrutinised at the conference. 

Papers dealing with issues such as warm 

asphalt and recycled asphalt are being 

delivered along with presentations 

addressing the challenges that the 

recent world financial downturn has 

brought to the industry. 

Financing new works, funding 

ongoing maintenance, and injecting 


economic stimulus are current issues 

for governments and industry around 

the world. 

Papers being presented at the 

conference are in the following key 

areas: 

• Sustainability/environment 

• Asphalt production 

• Cracking & treatments 

• Rutting 

• Road materials 

• Surface friction 

• Surfacings 

• Asphalt testing 

• Innovations/ new technology 

• Low volume road pavements 

• Quality assurance 

• Developments in thin surfacings 

• Specifications 

• Environmental aspects 

• Warm mix asphalt workshop 

• Asphalt mix design 

• Contracts 

• Asphalt recycling 

• Sprayed seal design/construction 

• Binders 

• Life cycle costing 

The conference is being supported by 

international Asphalt Bodies including 

the European Asphalt Pavement 

Association, National Asphalt Pavement 

Association, South African Bitumen 

Association, Asphalt Institute, 

International Society for Asphalt 

Pavements and ROADING New Zealand 

to ensure it provides an international 

perspective. 

The conference provides ample 

networking opportunities so that all 

delegates can mix and learn from their 

international colleagues. 

Supporting the Conference will be a 

major exhibition showcasing a wide 

range of companies involved in the 

flexible pavement industry.

There are four international keynote 

speakers at this year’s conference – 

John Brock, Ramon Bonaquist, 

Manfrad Partl and Randy West. 

Dr J Don Brock – Founder, 

Chairman of the Board and 

CEO Astec Industries, Inc. 

Dr J Don Brock is founder, Chairman 

and CEO of Astec Industries, Inc. 

(Astec). Astec was founded in 

Chattanooga during 1972 and has 

grown into a family of 16 companies 

located throughout the United States 

and internationally. 

These companies specialise in the 

manufacture of asphalt mixing plants 

and recycling equipment; mobile 

asphalt paving equipment; heat transfer 

equipment; aggregate processing 

equipment including rock crushers, 

screens, washing and conveyor systems 

and components; pipeline and underground 

utility construction equipment; 

soil remediation equipment; and waste 

wood processing. 

Dr Brock earned a BS Degree in 

Mechanical Engineering, an MS in 

Mechanical Engineering and a Ph.D. in 

Mechanical Engineering. 

He presently holds approximately 100 

US and foreign patents on construction 

machinery and drying equipment. 

Dr Brock’s distinguished career has 

seen him presented with many Awards 

including “Man Of The Year”, 1983 

(National Asphalt Pavement 

Association); “Engineer Of The Year”, 

1984 (Chattanooga Area Engineering 

Societies); “Dougherty Award”, 1998 

(The University of Tennessee); and the 

“Hall Of Fame Award”, 1999 

(Construction Equipment Industry). 

SPONSORED BY 

PLATINUM SPONSOR: 

GOLD SPONSORS: 

SILVER SPONSOR: 

International Supporters 

• European Asphalt Pavement 

Association • National Asphalt 

Pavement Association • South African 

Bitumen Association • Asphalt 

Institute • International Society for 

Asphalt Pavements • ROADING 

New Zealand 

Supporting Partner 


Ramon Bonaquist - PhD, P.E. 

Dr Bonaquist has over 22 years of 

research and practical experience in 

asphalt materials and flexible pavement 

engineering. 

He has been AAT’s Chief Operating 

Officer since 1997, developing AAT into 

one of the country’s leading asphalt 

materials consulting firms. 

In this capacity he serves as Chief 

Engineer and also leads AAT’s strategic 

business planning and development. 

Since joining AAT he served as 

Principal Investigator; Co-Principal 

Investigator or Program Manager on 

several projects including National 

Cooperative Highway Research 

Program (NCHRP) Project 9-29; Simple 

Performance Tester for Superpave Mix 

Design NCHRP 9-36, Improved 

Procedure for Laboratory Aging of 

Asphalt Binders in Pavements NCHRP 

9-30A, Calibration of Rutting Models for 

HMA Structural and Mix Design 

NCHRP 9-43, Mix Design Practices for 

Warm Mix Asphalt, and NCHRP 9-44, 

Developing a Plan for Validating an 

Endurance Limit for HMA Pavements. 



Manfred N Partl – Dr Sc. techn. 

Dipl. Bauingenieur ETH (Civil 

Engineer ETH) 

Dr Partl has 23 years experience in 

research and academia. Dr Partl has 

been for many years an active member 

of many research and technical 

committees. He is currently the 

President of International Society for 

Asphalt Pavements (ISAP) and 

Chairman ISAP TC APE “Asphalt 

Pavements and Environment”. 

He is currently an Associate Prof at 

the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 

Stockholm; Adjunct Research Professor 

at Carleton University, Ottawa; and the 

Head of Laboratory Road Engineering/ 

Sealing Components, EMPA Swiss 

Federal Laboratories for Materials 

Testing and Research, Switzerland. 

Dr Partl has been an academic since 

1990 and employed in research from 

28 ROADS OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2009 

1976. He has published numerous 

technical papers and publications on 

bituminous and asphaltic materials. 

Since 1998 he has also been an active 

member of a number of editorial 

committees for International Technical 

Periodicals relating to pavements and 

materials, including the “International 

Journal of Pavement Research and 

Technology”. 

Dr Randy West – Director, 

National Centre for Asphalt 

Technology, Auburn University 

Randy C West is Director of National 

Centre for Asphalt Technology (NCAT), 

an organisation which works to improve 

asphalt performance through research, 

education and information services. 

Dr West joined NCAT in 1996, quickly 

moving into the position of assistant 

director. With over 20 years of 

experience in the hot mix asphalt 

industry, he has a wealth of experience 

in the industry. 

As assistant director, Dr West led 

research on a broad range of pavement 

issues, including recycling of hot mix 

asphalt, mix design and materials 

characterisation, quality assurance, 

pavement construction and pavement 

failure investigations. 

Prior to joining NCAT, he worked as 

a research engineer for the Florida 

Department of Transportation and for 

APAC, Inc. in Atlanta, where he 

advanced to Director of Materials, 

Plants and Quarry Services. 

Dr West earned his bachelor’s and 

master’s from Auburn in 1987 and1989 

respectively, and doctorate in civil 

engineering from the University of 

Florida in 1995. 

He is a registered professional 

engineer in Georgia and Florida and 

active in the American Society for 

Testing and Materials, Association of 

Asphalt Paving Technologists, National 

Transportation Board, National Asphalt 

Pavement Association, and a number of 

committees dealing with HMA research, 

specifications and training. 

The four keynote speakers from overseas are among 50 speakers who are making presentations at the 13th 

International Flexible Pavements conference, highlighting the breadth of expertise the forum has attracted. 

This feature on the conference contains a cross section of abstracts from the presenters, outlining topics that 

are being covered to widen the knowledge and challenge the thinking of participants. 

Laboratory study into factors 

affecting stone mastic asphalt 

performance 

By Allan Alderson - Principal Research 

Scientist ARRB Group 

There has been considerable interest in 

stone mastic asphalt in Australia and 

elsewhere. Two of the distinguishing 

features of stone mastic asphalt are the 

relatively high proportion of binder 

mastic and the establishment of a stoneon-stone 

aggregate skeleton. 

Binder mastic has been characterised 

in the past by a simple binder/filler 

ratio, but with the greater proportion of 

binder mastic in stone mastic asphalts, 

this simple parameter does not fully 

explain the role of the mastic. 

The binder mastic can have a 

profound effect on stone mastic asphalt 

performance. Free binder ratio and 

fixed binder ratio are shown to be 

closely related to the mastic viscosity 

and are examined in the laboratory for 

a range of added fillers. 

The aggregate skeleton of stone 

mastic asphalts is commonly described 

as a stone-on-stone skeleton 

highlighting that the large proportion 

of coarse-sized aggregate particles 

carry a substantial share of the imposed 

loads. 

There have been numerous studies in 

developing methods to ensure that this 

type of aggregate skeleton is developed 

and this paper examines two procedures; 

namely dilation (based upon the 

change in resilient modulus in 

laboratory compacted specimens) and 

mix volume ratio. 

Prediction of rutting in China 

By Andrew Braham - Post-Doc Research 

Fellow, Fujian Ni, Professor, Southeast 

University, Nanjing, China 

In order to evaluate an asphalt mixture’s 

resistance to rutting, China currently 

uses China Standard T0719, which is a 

wheel tracking device. Outside of 

China, however, this standard is 

relatively unknown. 

Southeast University, in Nanjing, 

China, will compare China Standard 

T0719 to other wheel tracking devices, 

including the Hamburg wheel tracking 

device, the Asphalt Pavement Analyzer, 

the French pavement rutting tester, and 

the Georgia loaded wheel tester. 

The research will also present a 

minimum of four field projects with 

corresponding data from China 

Standard T0719. Rutting data will be 

compared between the laboratory wheel 

tracking device and actual field rutting. 

Several critical questions will be 

answered, including how well did the 

lab data predict current field performance, 

and how did different mixtures 

affect these results? This will set the 

stage for a second phase, where at least 

one mixture will be compared on all of


the wheel-tracking devices discussed 

above. 

The green pavement 

By J Don Brock, PhD - Founder, 

Chairman of Board and CEO of Astec 

Industries USA 

Over the last two years, the “Perfect 

Storm/Opportunity” has occurred to 

the Hot Mix Asphalt Paving Industry in 

the world. 

Liquid asphalt prices have reached 

historical highs, supply is short, 

environmental restrictions have 

tightened while available revenues to 

purchase the products have decreased. 

This has led to the development of a 

reusable/sustainable product that can 

be produced, placed in an environmentally 

friendly manner with no smoke or 

smell and can be reprocessed and 

reused multiple times while reducing 

the cost of the paving process substantially 

and giving long term 

performance...warm mix with high 

RAP. 

This new process reduces plant 

drying cost while increasing 

production. Compaction is made easier 

reducing the need of one roller. 

The presentation will give several 

details on the performance of high RAP 

mixes at the National Center of Asphalt 

Technology Test Track as well as 

pavement performance on American 

roadways. 

Is innovation a threat or an 

opportunity? 

By Michael Chadderton - Australasian 

Manager, A J Broom Road Products NZ 

Ltd 

The road maintenance industry is under 

pressure. Infrastructure is at the core of 

a nation’s well being and has been 

identified as a key investment when 

planning how to survive the recession. 

The ongoing maintenance of the infrastructure 

must therefore be critical. 

At a time when escalating maintenance 

costs, achieving the pavements 

design life, optimising usable lane 

time, creating and maintaining road 

user’s satisfaction are key issues, we 

have a government that is now 

spending more money on infrastructure, 

which is creating an 

ever-increasing workload. 


This is happening when there is a 

serious skill shortage, which is driving 

top talent into higher paid jobs, many of 

which are off shore. This is happening 

in an industry that for years has not 

been perceived as sexy; therefore, it has 

not attracted the new employees it 

needs. And this is underpinned by 

increasing expectations for a safety and 

environmental framework that protects 

the public, staff and surrounds that are 

in contact with road maintenance 

works. 

It was in this environment that the 

South African manufactured BRP Road 

Patch was introduced into New 

Zealand. The BRP Road Patch is a 

prefabricated chip seal and is used 

primarily as a front line maintenance 

tool. 

Its philosophy is simple - waterproof 

the road defect at the earliest possible 

opportunity. Restoration of the waterproof 

seal coat may be all that is 

required to repair the defect, if the 

defect is too far advanced the waterproof 

seal coat will inhibit the rapid 

growth of the defect area. 

This product is claimed to save 

money, reduce road maintenance 

activity, reduce investment required for 

plant and equipment, require low 

skilled workers to install, improves road 

user safety and consumes less fossil 

fuels than alternative maintenance 

methods. 

The paper looks at the performance 

of the BRP Road Patch in New Zealand, 

and how the Roading Industry has 

reacted to the introduction of a new and 

innovative product for road maintenance 

management. 

Understanding bitumen 

stabilised materials 

By D C Collings, Loudon International, 

South Africa 

A new guideline document for the 

design and construction of bitumen 

stabilised materials was published by 

the Asphalt Academy in South Africa in 

May 2009. 

Entitled “TG2, 2nd Edition”, this 

publication is the culmination of a 

massive effort by both researchers and 

practitioners to understand these 

materials and develop appropriate 

design tools. 

By doing so, this publication 

promises a new dawn for bitumen 

stabilised materials. Some myths 

concerning performance are exposed 

and, most importantly, the competition 

between the bitumen emulsion and 

foamed bitumen lobbies is addressed by 

placing both on the same footing. 

This paper focuses on the results of 

research carried out over the past 

decade, coupled with long-term 

pavement performance data that was 

used to understand the in-service 

behavioural characteristics of these 

materials and their failure mode. 

The resulting new design methodology 

is reviewed along with the 

adoption of a heuristic modelling 

approach to obtain reliable indicators 

of performance. A final section 

summarises the economic and environmental 

benefits that accrue from using 

these materials. 

The role of asphalt rejuvenators 

in pavement preservation 

By Charley Grady - Director, 

International Group, Crafco Inc, USA 

Asphalt rejuvenators have a history of 

use spanning over 45 years in the 

United States. But today, very few 

agencies incorporate their use. There 

are many methods of surface treatments 

entailing use of asphalted 

emulsions and of wear course seals, 

chip seal and slurry being industry 

standards. 

The components of asphalt rejuvenators 

are derived from very specific 

crude stocks and are not as generic in 

their manufacture, thus on a national 

level, product availability as well as 

manufacturer/refiner marketing has 

impacted limited expansion and use of 

the products to date. But asphalt rejuvenators 

have been one of the most field 

tested applications there are. 

In today’s world of volatile crude 

prices and fluctuating asphalt costs, we 

all know the pressure this has created 

on petroleum derived materials. It is 

more vital than ever that agencies 

closely monitor methods, treatments 

and applications to preserve their 

inventory, extend pavement life and 

increase the Pavement Condition Index 

of that inventory. Asphalt rejuvenators 

need to be a utilised tool in every 

maintenance department’s program. 

They need to take the tool and figure 

best how to adopt their use in their 

programs. 

This paper will specifically present 

the technical components of an asphalt


rejuvenator and how they differentiate 

from generic asphalt emulsions. 

It will present how they work, where 

they work, what the appearance is. It 

will review field test results over a long 

time period – early 1980s to present, 

with factual data. The paper will 

remain as generic as possible. 

It will also present a visual 

perspective of the appearance of 

before and after treatments. Through 

the many years of application we 

have gained a good insight as to 

where and how rejuvenators should 

be applied. The number one issue to 

most is skid resistance and this will 

be reviewed from the manufacturer’s 

perspective. 

Feasibility of using high RAP 

contents in hot mix asphalt 

By Rayya Hassan - Swinburne University 

of Technology 

This paper provides a review of recent 

research findings on the performance 

and properties of asphalt mixes 

containing high percentages of recycled 

asphalt pavement (RAP). The review 

covers both national and international 

research. 

The aim of this paper is to highlight 

the advantages and disadvantages of 

such practice, supported by field long 

term performance where possible. 

The reasons behind its limited application 

are also discussed and options 

for overcoming them are proposed. 

SMA wearing courses on 

runways and taxiways - recent 

experience in South Africa 

By Wim Hofsink - PDNA Consulting 

Engineers Pretoria, South Africa. Co 

Author - M C Barnard, BKS Engineering 

and Management, Pretoria, South Africa 

In recent years, SMA became very 

popular in South Africa. Currently 

SMA is part of the design strategy of 

the newly constructed King Shaka 

International Airport (KSIA) near 

Durban which consists of 3.7 

kilometre runway and associated 

taxiways. 

The design strategy was to use SMA 

for the KSIA project, not only for its 

excellent known performance 

properties and associated functional 

advantages, but also for the challenge 

of using the SMA on a runway and 

taxiways on a project like this in 


comparison to highly trafficked roads 

where it is normally used. 

This paper deals with the design 

approach with a slightly different angle 

for the SMA to be used at the KSIA 

project. This design approach will be 

compared with the different design 

approaches used during more recent 

contracts where SMA was used on 

highly trafficked roads. 

The design approaches used for SMA 

will include discussions and analysis on 

properties such as air voids, 

compaction, permeability, type of 

binder, type of grading, filler and fibres 

and volumetric design principles 

Performance properties on these 

mixes were extensively tested in most 

cases and include MMLS and wheel 

tracking tests to evaluate the rutting 

properties. 

CO 2-reduction on asphalt mixing 

plants - potential and practical 

solutions 

By Rolf Jenny - Amman 

The necessity for the global reduction 

of the CO2 emissions has been recognised 

by all countries. 

The ambitious targets for the CO2 reduction set by the different governments 

can only be achieved if all 

industries are contributing with their 

best technologies to lower the 

emissions. Also in Australia, the asphalt 

industry is asked to do its utmost to 

reduce the greenhouse gases. 

In recent times, new technologies 

have been developed and proven their 

efficiency for the CO2 reduction in the 

production of asphalt. The potential for 

the CO2 reduction of the Australian 

asphalt industry is in the order of 30%; 

this represents an annual saving of 

100,000 t CO2. This impressive reduction can only 

be achieved if all parties involved in 

road construction and road maintenance 

are open to these new 

technologies. 

The manufacturer of asphalt plants 

has to search continuously for improvements 

and develop new technologies; 

the producer of asphalt can contribute 

in investing in these new technologies 

and, most importantly, the road authorities 

can support in accepting and 

promoting these new technologies, in 

particular asphalt recycling and low 

temperature asphalt. 

This paper will review the potential 

for CO 2 reduction using newest 

technologies in the production of 

asphalt. 

Full depth reclamation with 

STABICOL binder in Thailand 

By Michel Lenfant - Tipco Product and 

Research Manager Bangkok 

Stabicol is a combination of two wellknown 

binders that were previously 

incompatible: bitumen and cement. It 

combines advantages of both binders: 

strength of cement and flexibility of 

bitumen. 

Stabicol forms a stiff yet flexible base 

course and eliminates the risk of 

cracking while giving road pavements a 

high degree of mechanical performance. 

Stabicol is used in new road 

construction as well as in 

reinforcement and rehabilitation of 

existing roads through in place 

recycling. 

Stabicol developed by COLAS in the 

1990s has been used over 3.5 millions 

square meters worldwide. 

The 2009 projection in Thailand 

stands around nine million sqm of cold 

in place recycling mainly based on 

cement treatment. Despite non-significant 

variation of temperature all over 

the year, shrinkage cracks develop and 

become a major issue for the road 

authorities. 

Tipco after intensive investigations 

carried out in its Bangkok research 

laboratory and based on rich Colas 

experience, proposed Stabicol to the 

Department of Highways. 

After evaluation Tipco was awarded 

the project for the rehabilitation of 

36,000m2 on the road 347 at Pathum 

Thani, north Bangkok to a 20cm depth. 

The recycling involves 60% RAP and 

40% aggregates. 

The recycling was carried out with a 

Wirtgen 2200 machine. 

The binder is composed of cement, 

water and a bitumen emulsion specially 

designed to provide high stability with 

cement, good coating and long workability 

in place. Components are blended 

into a special slurry unit set up on the 

machine itself. Dosages are controlled 

by flowmeters and monitored by 

computers. Stabicol is introduced 

through a spray bar.


An effective bond coat for 

longer pavement life 

By John Lysenko – Technical Manager, 

Road Binders and Surfacing, Pioneer 

Road Services 

Tack coat treatments are routinely 

used to promote a satisfactory bond 

between an existing pavement surface 

and new asphaltic concrete overlay. 

A satisfactory bond is essential to 

maximise the structural design performance 

of the overall pavement. In thin 

layers, the tack or bond coat is critical 

in resisting high shear forces and 

preventing delamination failures. 

This paper reviews the local development 

of a bond coat emulsion with 

improved bond strength and negligible 

construction tyre pickup. 

It also describes a novel laboratory 

sample preparation method utilising a 

shear box compactor as well as 

laboratory bond strength testing for 

various tack coat conditions. Field 

trial observations are reported and 

practical field applications are 

described. 

A new and challenging 

delivery method for the 

asphalt industry 

By Rob McGuire - Southern Region 

Manager, Boral Asphalt (Qld) 

In 2007, the Queensland Government 

Agency, Queensland Department of 

Main Roads, called for tenders to 

design and construct a five kilometre, 

six lane carriageway section of the 

Ipswich Motorway (Wacol to Darra) 

and a major upgrade of the Centenary 

Highway Interchange. 

Tenders were called as a ‘competitive 

alliance’ and the successful 

alliance team comprises – Qld Main 

Roads, Leighton Contractors, BMD 

Constructions, Maunsell Australia and 

Arup. The winning team named 

themselves the “SAFElink Alliance”. 

Due to the complexity of this major 

capital works project and the 

substantial volume of asphalt, the 

alliance initiated this component of 

the works be carried out in a suballiance 

with a major asphalt 

contractor. This is the first time this 

delivery method has been used in 

Australia for the asphalt industry. 

The paper will outline the suballiance 

structure and the benefits to 


the project using this delivery method. 

Topics covered in the paper will 

include: 

• design and TOC phase; 

• construction methodology; 

• specifications; 

• risk and opportunity; and 

• value adding. 

With current funding constraints, 

this type of delivery method 

contributes to improved value 

outcomes. 

Properties of bituminous binder 

modified with waste 

polyethylene terephthalate (PET) 

By Zahra Kalantar - Civil Engineering 

Department, Faculty of Engineering, 

University of Malaya 

The purpose of this research is to 

investigate the possibility of using 

Polyethylene Terephthalate as 

polymer additives in Bituminous Mix. 

The characteristics of PET-modified 

binder obtained by fix mixing temperatures 

were investigated. The binders 

were prepared by mixing the PET in 

2%, 4%, 6%, 8% and 10% (by the 

weight of optimum bitumen) with 

80/100 penetration grade bitumen at 

temperature of 150ºC. 

It may be inferred that PETmodified 

bituminous binders provide 

better resistance against permanent 

deformations due to their higher 

complex shear modulus and lower 

phase angle as compared to conventional 

binder. It also contributes to 

recirculation of plastic wastes as well 

as to the protection of the 

environment. 

Stereo photography as a tool in 

understanding sprayed seal 

distress mechanisms 

By Kym Neaylon - Principal Research 

Engineer, ARRB Group Ltd 

In an increasing number of cases, old 

existing sprayed seals are very stable 

under traffic. However, when a reseal 

is needed because of either loss of skid 

resistance, growth of fatigue cracking, 

or environmental cracking aided by 

the brittleness of an aged binder, the 

fresh reseal is too tender to withstand 

the current traffic loadings. 

How can we help reseals survive 

their first week under heavy traffic? 

What causes seals to strip? What 

causes seals to bleed? How can we 

help seals survive their first cold/wet 

snap? What are the factors in the 

development of a strong aggregate 

mosaic surface in sprayed seals? 

If we can understand the mechanisms 

that cause this to happen, we 

may be able to better control these 

factors and manipulate them. But first 

we need a tool that is able to measure 

the factors involved, so that they can 

be studied. We may then be able to 

change each variable one by one, in 

order to learn which variables are 

most worth manipulating or 

controlling. 

This paper explores the possibility 

of stereo photography as a tool to 

understanding sprayed seal distress 

mechanisms. 

Low emissions asphalt – 

experience to date 

By Dr Bryan Pidwerbesky - Fulton 

Hogan with Alan Beuzenberg of 

Christchurch City Council and John De 

Bono of Christchurch International 

Airport 

Several new technologies have been 

developed that reduce energy usage 

for asphalt manufacture with a consequent 

lowering of production and 

placement temperatures; these 

materials are called “warm asphalt 

mix”, or WAM. 

More recent advances have further 

reduced production temperatures, 

reducing fuel usage and “blue smoke” 

emissions from asphalts. As these 

products are produced at even lower 

temperatures than WAM, they are 

referred to as “half-warm asphalts”. 

Fulton Hogan, Christchurch City 

Council and Christchurch 

International Airport have been 

working together since 2007 to 

construct asphalt pavements using the 

most advanced half-warm asphalt mix 

technology. 

The organisations are working to 

explore new initiatives which result in 

road user safety improvements, 

community cost reductions, better 

asset performance from local 

resources, longer asset lives and wider 

sustainability and environmental 

improvements. 

In 2008, Fulton Hogan partnered 

with other local governments and 

clients in New Zealand and Australia, 

constructing asphalt pavements using


the latest warm and half-warm mix 

technologies. 

This paper reports on the reasons for 

using warm and half-warm mixes, 

including operational and technical 

benefits, reduction in greenhouse gas 

emissions and improvements to worker 

safety. 

The environmental footprint of 

bitumen 

By Dr Nigel Preston - The Shell Co. of 

Australia 

Following the introduction of the 

National Greenhouse and Energy 

Reporting Act in 2008 it is now 

mandatory for Australian businesses to 

report CO 2 emissions. 

Any facility or combined facilities 

under single company ownership 

emitting greater than 25kt of CO 2 per 

annum must report on greenhouse gas 

emissions and energy consumption. 

This legislation introduces a new 

requirement for large corporations 

involved in the highway industry and 

brings focus to the environmental 

impact of road construction and 

maintenance activities. 

This paper addresses the contribution 

of bitumen to the environmental 

footprint of the asphalt and sealing 

industries in Australia and what role 

can be played by the Industry in terms 

of reducing carbon pollution. 

Analysis of methods to minimize 

moisture damage in asphalt 

mixtures 

By Francisco Castañeda Juarez - 

Commercial Director, Quimikao in 

Mexico 

Moisture damage of asphalt pavement 

in the world is an evident and serious 

problem. To solve this problem, it is 

necessary to use anti-stripping agents. 

There have been many efforts of 

researchers to improve the laboratory 

test methods, but now, is not clear 

which is a good method to evaluate the 

moisture damage. 

There are various mechanisms that 

can lead to moisture damage within an 

asphalt pavement; the most commonly 

recognised form is the adhesion failure 

between asphalt and aggregate. 

In this study, different methods to 

evaluate the adhesion between the 

asphalt and the aggregate were 

evaluated. 


Pavement rehabilitation by using 

an asphalt reinforcement grid 

made of high modulus polyester 

By Bernd Thesseling - Applications 

Engineer, Asphalt Reinforcement, 

Huesker Synthetic GmbH, Germany 

The rehabilitation of an existing 

cracked pavement made of concrete 

slabs or asphalt can be simply done 

by the installation of new asphalt 

layers. 

Due to external forces from traffic 

and natural temperature variations, 

however, existing cracks or joints 

rapidly propagate out of the old 

pavement into the new asphalt overlay. 

The application of an asphalt 

reinforcement showed excellent results 

in the prevention of crack growth. The 

installation of a high modulus polyester 

grid led to a considerable extension of 

pavement life. 

This paper shows typical applications 

and limits for the use of asphalt 

reinforcement in rehabilitating deteriorated 

pavements, described through 

basic theory and our practical experiences 

from the last 40 years with 

asphalt reinforcement. 

Gyropac bulk density 

determination issues in 

South Australia 

By Hugo van Loon, Peter Miller, Daryl 

Chatfield 

This paper presents the findings from a 

comprehensive assessment of the bulk 

density determination of asphalt 

production samples by a contractor for 

a project in Adelaide. 

A difference in bulk density was 

identified by the State Road Authority 

through an audit program, and an 

investigation matrix was established to 

establish reasons for the difference. A 

revision for the Australian Standard for 

compaction is presented. 

For all your road needs, go 

to www.roadsonline.com.au 

Novel class of SBS polymers for 

enhanced effectiveness in 

bitumen modification 

By Willem Vonk with Erik Jan Scholten 

and Jan Korenstra - Kraton Polymers 

Research B.V. Amsterdam, The 

Netherlands 

By applying special modifiers it is 

possible to adjust the structure of the 

Poly-butadiene block of SBS (Styrene- 

Butadiene-Styrene) block co-polymers. 

These polymers are by far the most 

widely used polymer in bitumen modification 

and account for about 65% of the 

total PMB market. 

The change of the structure is such 

that part of the double bonds that are 

characteristic for Poly-butadiene, are 

no longer in the backbone of the 

polymer, but transferred to branches on 

the backbone. 

This brings a number of advantages 

to the performance of the PMB such as 

lower viscosity and better compatibility 

at equivalent molecular weight, and a 

better resistance to chain scission due 

to oxidation, hence better thermal 

stability. 

It has now also been proven that 

these polymers react more easily with 

bitumen to form bitumen-polymer 

grafts that are highly effective in performance 

enhancement and stimulating 

compatibility. Using the novel 

technique, a number of polymers have 

been developed that allow modification 

of bitumen with the worst compatibility 

parameters. 

It has also provided the possibility to 

modify relatively hard bitumen, which 

can be used in base courses, which 

allows an asphalt thickness reduction 

which will make the overall cost of 

laying asphalt lower and which would 

also save natural resources that are 

becoming more scarce. 

Assessment of reinforced asphalt 

products for road applications in 

NSW 

By Dr Binh Vuong - ARRB Group with Dr 

Xavier Choi, CSIRO and Dr Zahid 

Hoque, Roads and Traffic Authority 

NSW 

This paper is an outcome of a research 

project where several reinforced asphalt 

products are being investigated as 

replacements of asphalt surfacings in 

road applications in New South Wales,


particularly for rehabilitation of existing 

cracked reinforced-concrete pavements 

and minimising asphalt layer thickness 

required for heavy-duty pavements. 

The products are assessed based on 

their structural capacity and other 

factors influencing their use such as 

availability, costs and long-term 

environmental sustainability. 

New 3D non-linear finite element 

analysis procedures are used to 

determine the structural capacity of 

reinforced asphalt required for the 

specific designs, especially with regard 

to joints or cracks in the underlying 

layers. This allows comparison of 

relative performance of various 

reinforced products and, hence, 

selection of the most effective solution 

for the designs concerned. 

The paper will examine the suitability 

of reinforced asphalt products for not 

only their structural capacities, but also 

for long-term cost-effective solutions 

over the traditional asphalt materials. 

This will help the issues of sustainability 

in material selection for pavement 

works. 

Crack reflection in sprayed seals 

- the search for a binder test 

By Dr Graham Wilson, Technical Projects 

Manager, BP Bitumen, BP Australia Pty 

Ltd; Tushan Fernando, Product 

Technologist, BP Bitumen, BP Australia 

Pty Ltd; Mick Budija, Applications 

Technologist, BP Bitumen, BP Australia 

Pty Ltd; and Dr Robert Urquhart, 

Technology Services Manager, BP 

Bitumen, BP Australia Pty Ltd. 

The service life of a sprayed seal is often 

determined by age-related criteria, such 

as the resistance to long-term effects of 

heat and air (durability) of the exposed 

bitumen film. 

However, in many cases the integrity 

of a sprayed seal and its ability to 

protect the underlying pavement is 

affected in a much shorter time frame 


due to the reflection of underlying 

pavement cracks through the sprayed 

seal. It is therefore critical to be able to 

understand the capacity of a sprayed 

seal binder to resist the potential 

reflection of cracks. 

This paper discusses the development 

of a binder test that can provide a 

convenient means of determining the 

relative performance of bituminous 

binders in resisting the reflection of 

cracks through a sprayed seal. Such a 

test will provide seal designers with a 

more rational method of selecting 

binders where protection against crack 

reflection is sought. 

Deferring joint reflection cracks 

in asphalt overlays 

By Greg Wright - Principal Pavements 

Engineer, Parsons Brinkerhoff 

The M2 Motorway mainline pavement 

comprises an asphalt surfaced plain 

jointed concrete. The existing open 

graded asphalt wearing surface of the 

M2 developed joint reflection cracks 

approximately every 4.2 metres within a 

year or two of the motorway being 

opened to traffic in May 1997. 

Parsons Brinkerhoff (PB) was 

commissioned by the owner of the M2 

Motorway to design a commercially 

viable, low maintenance asphalt overlay 

for the motorway. Present design procedures 

require sufficient asphalt to 

reduce the characteristic maximum 

joint deflection to 0.22mm and the 

characteristic differential joint 

deflection to less than 0.03mm. 

Parsons Brinkerhoff commissioned 

out a Falling Weight Deflectometer 

(FWD) to determine the maximum and 

differential M2 joint deflections. The 

FWD survey found that the characteristic 

M2 joint deflection was 0.24mm 

and that the characteristic joint differential 

deflection was 0.12mm. 

ROADS Advertising 

To reach the decision-makers in the roads field, you should 

consider advertising in ROADS. For information on advertising 

rates, please contact Yuri Mamistvalov at Hallmark Editions, 

Tel (03) 8534 5008 or email yuri@halledit.com.au 

PB developed a finite element model 

of the M2 pavement that successfully 

replicates the observed M2 joint defections 

and, moreover, predicts the 

allowable number of Standard Axle 

Repetitions (SAR) that will cause the 

M2 joints to be reflected through the M2 

asphalt wearing surface. 

The study demonstrated that overbanding 

joints defers the onset of joint 

reflection cracking as does asphalt with 

a high fatigue resistance. A full scale 

paving trial was carried out at the 

western end of the M2 motorway in 

September 2007 implementing PB’s 

design. No joint reflection cracks have 

been observed to date in the paving trial 

and none are expected before 2012 

based on current traffic loading. 

Crack sealing – a waste of time 

or pavement maintenance 

budget saviour? 

By Murray Yardley - Managing Director 

Sealants & Pavement Adhesives Pty Ltd 

The sealing of cracks in asphalt 

pavements and joints in concrete 

pavements has been a maintenance 

and construction function for many 

years. 

Until recent years, the sealing 

approach was accepted as a menial 

maintenance task, with the value being 

seen as a short-term direction. Yet, 

others declaring no value in preserving 

their pavements with crack sealing 

deleted this task from their maintenance 

and construction programs 

altogether. 

Today’s technology has improved 

with better performing types of sealing 

material and methods for sealing 

cracks/joints. At the same time, the 

demand for a cost-effective preventative 

maintenance technique is required to 

extend the life of our roadway and 

pavement system. 

The uplift to current recognition that 

prompts corrective action to seal 

crack/joints before they begin to 

contribute to accelerated pavement 

deterioration will pay dividends. 

The investment that any state road 

authority, city or shire has in pavementin-place 

is far too great to even consider 

replacing at today’s prices. The most 

cost effective form of pavement preservation 

is early intervention with best 

practice crack sealing.


CONFERENCE EXHIBITORS 

BOOTH COMPANY 

1&2 Wirtgen Australia Pty Ltd 

3&4 Caterpillar Asia Pacific Marketing 

5 Southern Geosynthetics Supplies 

6 Kraton Polymers 

7 SuperSealing Pty Ltd 

8, 9 & 10 Astec Australia Pty Ltd 

11 & 12 The Shell Company of Australia 

13 & 14 BP Australia Pty Ltd 

17 & 18 

19, 20, 

Atlas Copco Construction 

Equipment Australia 

22 & 23 Conplant/Amman 

21 Synergy Equipment & Systems 

(AUS) Ltd 

25 Fulton Hogan 

24 & 26 Boral Asphalt 

27 Sealants and Pavement Adhesives 

28 SAMI Bitumen Technologies 

29 Tieman Industries 

30 Mainmark Uretek 

31 & 32 Roadstone Recycling Pty Ltd 

33 & 34 Benninghoven GmbH & Co. KG 

35 Clark Equipment 

36 Gripset Industries Pty Ltd 

37 A J Broom Road Products NZ Ltd 

38 Geofabrics Australia 

PROFILES OF EXHIBITORS 

A J Broom Road Products NZ 

Ltd – Booth 37 

A J Broom Road Products, manufacture 

and distribute the ‘BRP Roading 

Solutions’ range of road maintenance and 

traffic calming products. 

‘BRP Roading Solutions’ are based on 

sheets of prefabricated chip seal, similar 

in concept to a carpet tile which are 

supplied in a variety of chip sizes 

(bitumen precoated) on a binder of 

80/100 bitumen and 22% rubber. The 

prefabricated sheets can be cut or added 

to, to seal any area or shape required. 

The Prefabricated Chip Seal sheets 

provide a permanent, high quality, 

flexible, waterproof seal. No sealing 

equipment is required and the application 

procedure is simple and easy to 

learn. 

Visit us at www.brp.co.za 

Contact: Miss Joanne Broom - Client 

Services Manager; Mr Michael Chadderton 


CATERING AREA 

THEATRE 

THEATRE 

ENTRANCE 

STAIRS 

L 

I 

F 

T

- Australasian Manager. Tel: +27 11 454 3102 

Fax: +2711 454 2790, Email: 

ajbroom@icon.co.za, Website: www.brp.co.za, 

Postal: P.O. Box 16421; Dowerglen; Gauteng; 

1612; South Africa, Physical Address: 230 

Albert Amon Road, Millennium Business 

Park, Meadowdale, Gauteng, Rep. Of South 

Africa 

Astec Australia Pty Ltd – Booths 

8, 9 & 10 

Astec Australia has been established as part 

of the Astec Industries Group to ensure the 

continued support, service and expansion of 

its product base in Australia and New 

Zealand. 

Astec Industries is a family of companies 

that manufactures equipment for building 

and restoring the world’s infrastructure. 

The companies include rock breaking, rock 

crushing and screening equipment for the 

aggregate and mining industry; asphalt 

plants, heating and storage equipment and 

mobile paving equipment for the asphalt 

industry; trenching, drilling and boring 

equipment, and wood processing and 

grinding equipment. 

Atlas Copco Construction 

Equipment Australia/Dynapac – 

Booths 17 & 18 

Dynapac has long been a leader in the 

asphalt industry. From the innovative 

Compactasphalt ® method of “hot on hot” 

asphalt paving to our recently released 

CC224 & CC 424 tandem asphalt rollers, we 

have the equipment to suit all jobs. We are 

strongly committed to customer performance 

and are experts on developing 

innovative equipment for paving and 

compaction applications. 

We offer solutions and support via a global 

sales, service and knowledge network to help 

customers achieve lasting results. For more 

information, call us on 1300 667 044 or visit 

our website: www.dynapac.com.au. 

Benninghoven GmBh & Co. – 

Booths 33 & 34 

The company Benninghoven was founded in 

1909 in Hilden, Germany by Otto 

Benninghoven and was set up to produce 

gear wheels and various machine tools. In 

the 1950s the company diversified into the 

field of industrial combustion technology. 

The beginning of the 60s was the entrance 

date into the asphalt industry with the first 

products being burners, dryers, bitumen 

systems and mastic asphalt equipment. The 

continued demand for Benninghoven 

products made it necessary in 1970 to 

construct a new fabrication facility located 

in Mosel. 

Another huge expansion took place in 

1990 with the addition of a manufacturing 

plant in Wittlich to accommodate the 

ongoing growth of the business. Today the 

Bennunghoven Group is manufacturing in 

two locations in Germany and one in 

England. With almost 100 years of tradition 

in pioneering advanced technology together 

with the excellence of a dedicated workforce, 

Benninghoven endeavours to maintain the 

success story to ensure the satisfaction of 

our most values asset – our customers. Over 

600 employees distribute the good name of 

Benninghoven products worldwide 

Boral Asphalt – Booths 24 & 26 

Boral is a national supplier and applicator of 

asphalt with over 40 plants situated across 

Australia. Boral’s products and services also 

include spray sealing and speciality road 

maintenance materials. Boral prides itself as 

being a leader in asphalt technology by 

offering its clients technical support and 

back up to help them solve their maintenance 

and construction challenges. This is 

mainly achieved through the design and 

development of innovative products which 

can improve the performance and sustainability 

of their surfacings and pavements. 

BP Bitumen – Booth 13 & 14 

BP Bitumen specialises in the development, 

production and supply of bituminous 

products. Every day our products perform 

under the most diverse and demanding road 

conditions throughout the Australian road 

network. This is attributable to a combination 

of our unique product technology, 

comprehensive quality assurance programs, 

operational efficiency and sophisticated 

production processes – all supported by 

highly skilled and experienced staff. 

Our products are thoroughly tested at 

every stage – from the raw materials at the 

start of the production process, right 

through to delivery. That’s why you can 

confidently turn to BP Bitumen for roads 

that perform. 

BP Bitumen offers a wide range of 

bituminous products to meet diverse conditions 

and application requirements. 

OLEXOBIT – BP Bitumen’s premium range 

of polymer modified binders – deliver 

outstanding performance in a range of 

sprayed seal and asphalt applications. 


To obtain further information on any of our 

products or to discuss how we can meet your 

specific requirements, visit the BP Bitumen 

stand. 

Technical Helpline: 1800 24 88 66 

(FREECALL) 

Email: BPBitumenAustralia@bp.com 

Website: www.bpbitumen.com.au 

Caterpillar of Australia Pty Ltd – 

Booths 3 & 4 

Private Mail Bag 4, Tullamarine, Vic 3043 

Ph: 03 9953 9333 Fax: 03 9335 3366 

Dealer network: 

NSW/ACT WesTrac: 1300 881 064 

WA WesTrac: 1300 881 064 

VIC William Adams: (03) 9566 0666 

TAS William Adams: (03) 6326 6366 

QLD/NT Hastings Deering: 131 228 

SA Cavpower: (08) 8343 1600 

NZ Goughs: (03) 983 2333 

Caterpillar ® offers a complete range of 

paving products supported by an 

outstanding Australia-wide dealer network. 

Using Cat ® Paving Products, you will have a 

single, convenient point of contact for 

purchasing, maintenance and support. 

Call your Cat Dealer now. You’re not just 

building roads, you’re building a business. 

australia.cat.com/paving_future 

Clark Equipment – Booth 35 

Clark Equipment brings the Big Names in 

Big Equipment to the Construction, 

Materials Handling and Agricultural sectors 

of our economy. 

As a manufacturer and distributor, we 

know what is required to make the 

equipment work; the on-the-ground distribution, 

equipment financing options, service 

and support, combined with the best of 

equipment. 

Clark Equipment in the Road Building 

Industry represents Terex Roadbuilding 

products including Asphalt Pavers and 

Asphalt Plant and LeeBoy Paving 

Equipment. 

Today, Clark Equipment is a BRW Top 

500 Australian Private Company with sales 

in excess of $200m, over 400 employees, 

operating from 20 locations around 

Australia and New Zealand. 

Dedicated to our customers ………… 

that’s our Commitment! 



Conplant/Amman – Booths 19, 

20, 22 & 23 

Conplant continues with its growth 

strategy... 

Conplant’s successful acquisition of 

Bitumen Equipment in early 2008 

confirmed its long-term commitment to its 

clients in the asphalt and road construction 

industry. 

The new entity, now trading as Conplant 

Bitumen Equipment, has extensive industry 

experience and a high level of technical 

capability. With Conplant’s long established 

partnership with Ammann, Conplant 

Bitumen Equipment can supply, install, 

support and service the entire Ammann 

range of asphalt plants, as well as having the 

capability and capacity to locally 

manufacture its own range of complementary 

asphalt plants. 

Asphalt plants - Conplant Bitumen 

Equipment has the capability and 

experience to design, engineer, 

manufacture, supply and install asphalt 

plants and their components, including 

complete new plants, retrofits and upgrades 

of existing plants. With highly qualified 

engineers and technicians, we can service 

and support any brand or type of asphalt 

plant. 

Founded 135 years ago, Swiss based 

Ammann is a premium manufacturer of 

compaction equipment and the world leader 

for asphalt plants. The Ammann 

Compaction range includes rammers and 

plates, trench rollers, tandem and combination 

rollers, pneumatic tyred rollers, and 

single drum rollers. 

Fulton Hogan – Booth 25 

Fulton Hogan is a major resourced based 

Australasian civil contracting company 

providing a broad range of products and 

services in the road, civil construction, 

quarrying, asphalt and infrastructure 

maintenance sectors. The strong culture 

exhibited by Fulton Hogan’s 5000+ strong 

team has helped shape the company’s 

success over the past 76 years. With offices 

and operations throughout Australia and 

New Zealand, Fulton Hogan has the 

capability and expertise to meet the needs of 

the most challenging projects. 

Geofabrics Australasia Pty Ltd – 

Booth 38 

Geofabrics Australasia Pty Ltd manufactures 

and distributes geosynthetic products 

throughout Australia, New Zealand and the 

Asia Pacific regions. Products include bidim 

geotextiles, Sealmac paving fabrics, Bitac 


road tape, Megaflo drainage panel, ElcoSeal 

geosynthetic clay liners, ElcoMax coastal 

geotextiles and ElcoRock coastal protection 

systems, all of which are Australian made. 

Other products include Tensar geogrids, 

Geoweb geocells, Trinter drainage nets and 

various erosion control products. 

Geofabrics Australasia Pty Ltd promotes 

ongoing growth of geosynthetics in 

Australia and embraces technological 

advancement through research at its new 

Geosynthetic Centre of Excellence. 

Geofabrics research has included a comprehensive 

review of performance of its 

Sealmac paving fabric system, installed 

over the last 30 years in Australia and 

designed for sealed road maintenance and 

rehabilitation. Sealmac paving fabrics, 

proudly manufactured in Albury Australia, 

are designed to meet a multitude of road 

engineering functions and state road 

authority requirements for road surfacing, 

providing a cost effective long term solution 

to road pavements. 

Contact: Rod Fyfe, Geofabrics Australasia, 

1 Marion Street, Melrose Park South 

Australia. Ph. 08 8177 2055 Fx. 08 8177 2044 

Gripset Industries Pty Ltd – Booth 

36 

Gripset Pavement Maintenance Solutions 

offers a range of innovative products 

designed for roads and pavements in a 

variety of maintenance and protective 

surface applications. 

Based on solvent free technology that is 

environmentally safe and user friendly, the 

Gripset range paves the way for future 

maintenance of pavement surfaces, 

overcoming the OHS dangers, handling 

risks and application difficulties that have 

been prevalent with traditional methods. 

The range of maintenance solutions 

include cold crack sealing systems, jointing 

systems, patching compounds, rejuvenation 

products, colour re-surfacing and fuel 

resistant coatings. In addition to this, the 

Gripset range offers an anti-reflective 

cracking membrane, designed to protect 

pavement structures from water ingress 

and crocodile cracking. 

Contact details: 1800 650 435; 

info@gripset.com 

Huesker (Southern Geosynthetic 

Supplies) – Booth 5 

Huesker is one of the pioneers in geosynthetics, 

with over 30 years experience in 

asphalt reinforcement with Hatelit asphalt 

grid. All Huesker geosynthetics are 

manufactured to strict QC, Huesker is ISO 

9001 certified. Expert technical support is 

available worldwide. Hatelit C has been 

successfully used worldwide on high profile 

projects including London’s Luton Airport, 

and locally at Amberley RAAF base and 

Sydney Airport. 

Kraton Polymers – Booth 6 

Kraton Polymers LLC is the leading global 

producer and innovator of styrenic block 

copolymer solutions for bitumen modification. 

Our uniquely engineered polymers 

enhance the performance of asphalt paving 

applications through improved strength 

and elasticity, resulting in greater resistance 

to permanent deformation and cracking. 

Kraton Polymers provides security of 

supply through its five global manufacturing 

facilities and delivers quality 

products and industry leading technical 

services to hundreds of customers in over 

50 countries. 

Roadstone Recycling – Booths 31 

& 32 

Roadstone recycling is widely recognised as 

the UK’s leading road recycling contractor. 

The expertise gained from working in this 

highly specialised field has been utilised to 

create the complete pavement service. 

Through our group of companies we are 

also able to provide planing, crushing, 

screening and laying services using conventional 

or recycled materials and these are 

available as a complete package or 

individual basis. 

Working from a bill of quantities or 

providing design consultancy for your 

project, our outstanding pedigree in 

pavement construction means Roadstone 

Recycling can be relied upon to provide the 

practical, cost effective solution. 

SAMI Bitumen Technologies – 

Booth 28 

SAMI Bitumen Technologies is a company 

focused on innovative road technologies, 

products, partnering with road paving 

businesses, and adding value through focus, 

expertise and innovation. As an importer of 

bitumen into Perth and Melbourne 

(Brisbane by late 2009), SAMI is a supplier 

of bitumen and manufacturer of a complete 

range of Polymer Modified Binders (PMB) 

as well as many Specialty and Standard 

Grade Bitumen Emulsions. SAMI’s 

manufacturing facilities are located in 

Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.


Sealants and Pavement 

Adhesives Pty Ltd – Booth 27 

Sealants and Pavement Adhesives Pty Ltd 

are the national distributor of Crafco 

products throughout Australia. For more 

than 30 years Crafco has been preserving 

pavements and lengthening the life of the 

world’s infrastructure. They are the world’s 

leading manufacturer of a range of 

pavement, asphalt and concrete preservation 

products, manufactured in the 

United States and distributed in over 30 

countries. 

We are also proud to have the Reclamite 

Rejuvinator in our range as well as the CRF 

restorative seal. 

Shell Bitumen – Booths 11 & 12 

Shell Bitumen has been at the forefront of 

the bitumen industry since its debut in 

Australia in 1923 and today is Australia’s 

largest supplier of bitumen products 

Hand in hand with our customers we 

continue to find better ways of delivering 

service excellence and a comprehensive 

range of bitumen products that not only 

uphold the highest quality, health, safety 

and environmental standards but are aimed 

at addressing the specific needs of our 

customers. 

The Shell Cariphalte range of polymer 

modified binders introduced in 1987 and 

Shell Multiphalte ‘engineered’ bitumen’s 

introduced in the early 1990s continue to 

provide outstanding performance in a range 

of diverse conditions and applications. 

The Shell Bitumen success formula 

remains a mix of vision, customer focus, 

quality people and ongoing product development. 

This has resulted in refinement of 

our existing high performance products as 

well as new binders to meet the increasing 

demands being placed on our roads. 

Our objective remains the long-term view, 

and we continue to invest in supply and 

production infrastructure and utilise both 

local and extensive international Research 

& Development to harness the products, 

technology and required skills to serve our 

customers and the community. 

Enquires contact Shell Bitumen on: 

Phone 1300 655 555, Fax 1300 658 294, 

www.shell.com.au/bitumen 

SuperSealing – Booth 7 

SuperSealing is a highly innovative business 

that has developed a unique approach to the 

design, method and application of crack 

sealing roads. SuperSealing operates 

throughout Australasia with offices in each 


mainland state and New Zealand, and is the 

dominant leader in the crack sealing 

industry. SuperSealing provides a cost 

effective maintenance solution to help 

stretch your dollar further and extend the 

life of your road pavement. SuperSealing 

places the highest priority on OH&S with 

our fully integrated management system 

providing the framework for our continuous 

improvement. With highly skilled and 

experienced team members, we guarantee 

to deliver quality results. 

Synergy Equipment & Systems 

(AUST) Ltd – Booth 21 

Synergy Positioning Systems was formed 

when two of the industry’s most trusted 

companies merged in 2006 - Synergy 

Equipment and Systems Ltd and Geodetic 

Instruments Ltd. The result is a company 

that brings you over 30 years experience 

delivering the most advanced and innovative 

technologies combined with a commitment 

to outstanding customer service. Our aim is 

to make your job faster and easier, more 

accurate and cost efficient. We’ll do this by 

giving you expert and honest advice and by 

offering you the best solution from our 

range of innovative positioning systems. 

Reliability is paramount - equipment 

breakages cost time and money. There are 

many low quality brands on the market that 

just don’t stand up to the rigours of our 

construction industry. We only sell reliable 

brands we can trust and service. 

Our experienced team are always on 

hand for after sales support, product 

training and servicing, giving you the confidence 

and skills to get the best out of your 

equipment. Our product range is extensive 

and always growing. 

Tieman Industries – Booth 29 

Tieman is an Australian family owned 

business founded in 1953. The company 

sells a full range of bulk liquid road tankers 

for the chemical, bitumen, milk, food grade, 

water and fuel industries. Recently Tieman 

became the sole distributor in Australia and 

New Zealand for the full range of 

aluminium dry bulk tankers from O.M.E.P.S 

in Italy. Tieman also sell a range of 

materials handling and docking equipment, 

tail lifts and wheelchair loaders for truck 

and vehicle access, all backed up by a fleet 

of mobile service vans with divisions in 

every state of Australia. 

A recent development is a new 

partnership between SRT in NZ and 

Tieman. Specialised Roading Technologies 

have developed a world’s best bitumen 

sprayer and Tieman has become the sole 

distributor in Australia for this technology. 

The new ‘Easy Roader’ bitumen sprayer will 

take bitumen spraying and safety to a new 

level in Australia. It is already a proven 

product in New Zealand with the first 

sprayer having over 10 years in service. 

Tieman also manufactures bitumen dog 

trailers to tow behind sprayers. 

Brent Glover from SRT and Mark Nelson 

from Tieman will be at the show to answer 

all questions on this new leading edge 

technology. The new ‘Easy Roader’ – 

Bitumen Spraying Made Easy! 

Uretek – Booth 30 

We re-support, raise and re-level moving 

and sunken road slabs, including road 

anchors, culvert areas and bridge approach 

slabs. We can even raise whole buildings. 

Unique, structural resin injection: fast, no 

water, no mess. 

Minimal disruption: working one lane at 

a time and at night, if required. Most jobs 

done in a day or two. The URETEK Method 

is fast, economical and permanent. 

Uretek offices in all states of Australia and in 

New Zealand, Japan, Thailand and many 

other countries. Australia: 1800 623 312 

uretek.sales@mainmark.com 

www.uretek.com.au 

Wirtgen Australia Pty Ltd – 

Booths 1 & 2 

WIRTGEN AUSTRALIA Pty Ltd, established 

in Sydney in 1986 as a subsidiary of private, 

family owned WIRTGEN GMBH of 

Germany. 

Australian/Oceania headquarters at Emu 

Plains [Penrith] NSW with Branches in 

Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth. Offices in 

Auckland NZ 65 staff with gross revenues 

approx $100 m per annum. 

Principal activity is the direct sale of 

WIRTGEN GROUP roadwork and material 

processing machines comprising WIRTGEN 

Road Mills, Stabilisers, Pugmills, HAMM 

Rollers, VOGELE Asphalt pavers and 

KLEEMAN Crushers. All products designed 

and manufactured in own factories in 

Germany. WIRTGEN GROUP sales in 2008 

comprised over 10,000 machines, to a total 

value approx $3.0 billion. Long term 

Associate membership of AAPA.


NO LINK BETWEEN BITUMEN 

FUMES AND LUNG CANCER 

A Case-Control Study of Lung Cancer Nested in a Cohort of European Asphalt Workers. 

As most people involved in road 

construction will be well aware, bitumen 

is the residual product from distillation 

of crude oil and is mainly used as binder 

to make high quality and long lasting 

roads surfaces. It may also be used in 

some roofing and waterproofing activities. 

Workers using hot bitumen may 

therefore be exposed to bitumen fumes 

which could be inhaled or come into 

direct contact with skin. 

Recognising this, a major study was 

conducted by the International Agency 

for Research on Cancer (IARC) of 29,820 

employees in the road paving, asphalt 

mixing, waterproofing and roofing 

industry. These workers were employed 

in one of these industries for at least one 

season between 1953 and 2000 and were 

followed for mortality until 1 January 

2000. The mortality patterns of the 

asphalt workers exposed to bitumen 

fume were compared with the mortality 

patterns of a group of non-exposed 

construction workers and with the 

general population. 

This study reported a small but statistically 

significant excess of lung cancer 

mortality in the bitumen fume exposed 

workers. However it was not possible to 

attribute this excess specifically to 

exposure to bitumen fumes. 

This study reported an overall slightly 

lower mortality rate for asphalt workers 

than the general public. 

No conclusions were able to be drawn 

to explain the slightly lower mortality 

rate for asphalt workers, but this may be 

due to the outdoor and physical nature of 

working in the industry. Also, no conclusions 

could be reached as to whether or 

not there was a causal link between 

exposure to bitumen fumes and lung 

cancer, since exposure to coal tar and 

other chemicals may also have played a 

role. 

A small difference in smoking habits 

between the exposed and non-exposed 

workers may also have caused this small 

excess of lung cancer mortality. IARC 

therefore recommended that a casecontrol 

study be conducted to disentangle 

the contributions of bitumen, other 


agents occurring in the asphalt industry, 

other occupational exposures, and 

tobacco smoking to the very slight 

increased risk of lung cancer. This study 

was completed in 2008 and the final 

report released in July 2009. 

The study required the collection of 

detailed information to characterise 

exposure to bitumen and other agents in 

the asphalt industry, and for information 

to be collected on other occupational 

exposure and smoking history. 

While in the analysis of the primary 

study the assessment of exposure to 

bitumen was limited to inhalation 

(exposure to bitumen fume), in the 

nested case-control study the exposure to 

bitumen condensate was also taken into 

consideration. This was done as 

exposure to condensate may contribute 

to total exposure. 

A total of 675 individuals (case studies) 

were identified who had been diagnosed 

as having lung cancer subsequently to 

1980. For each case study a set of control 

subjects were also selected randomly 

among members of the earlier study 

population who fulfilled matching 

criteria (birth year ± three years, country) 

and were free from respiratory and illdefined 

cancer at the age of diagnosis or 

death of the case study. A list of eight 

eligible controls was identified for each 

case study, with the goal of interviewing 

three of them. 

Each of the living case subjects 

completed a general questionnaire 

(smoking history, general work history) 

and a detailed questionnaire regarding 

the jobs held within the asphalt 

companies, hygiene and clothing 

behaviour. For deceased subjects, one or 

more next-of-kin were contacted to 

obtain information about smoking habits 

and general work history. 

In addition, for deceased subjects, one 

or several previous colleagues in the 

asphalt companies (fellow-workers), were 

contacted to provide information on job 

tasks and hygiene and clothing behaviour 

on behalf of the deceased subject. 

Estimates were then made of the 

exposure level – both inhalation and 

dermal exposure (contact with the skin 

from condensate). Detailed information 

on how the exposure levels were determined 

is contained in the full report. 

Of the 675 case studies, a total of 436 

were interviewed with a total of 1253 

control subjects. 

The main results of the study were: 

• There was a higher prevalence of 

tobacco smoking in the study 

population as compared to national 

surveys, 

• There was no consistent evidence of an 

association between indicators of 

inhalation and dermal exposure to 

bitumen and lung cancer, and 

• There was a lack of an effect of other 

lung carcinogens in the asphalt 

industry or in other jobs, with the 

exception of exposure to coal tar. 

The study therefore concluded that: 

• A sizable proportion of the excess 

mortality from lung cancer relative to 

the general population observed during 

the earlier study is likely attributable to 

the high consumption of tobacco 

experienced by these workers, and 

possibly to coal tar exposure, while 

other occupational agents do not 

appear to play an important role. 

• There was no consistent evidence of an 

association between indicators of 

inhalatory or dermal exposure to 

bitumen and lung cancer risk 

Comment 

These findings show that bitumen fumes 

are not statistically linked to lung cancer 

and this is an important finding for the 

flexible pavement industry. It gives both 

employees and employers confidence in 

the health and safety practices adopted 

by our industry. 

However, it does not mean that as an 

industry we should relax our standards. 

In fact we should always continue to 

strive for better practices to limit 

exposure of workers to foreign materials, 

be it bitumen fumes, or other materials. 

Report IARC http://www.iarc.fr/en/ 

research-groups/LCA/AsphaltReport.pdf.


ALICE SPRINGS AIRPORT 

RUNWAY ASPHALT OVERLAY 

Alice Springs airport is the major airport in central Australia and a vital link to the rest of the country. In 

2008 the surface of the main 2.4 kilometre runway had deteriorated to the degree that a complete asphalt 

resurfacing was required. Tenders were called in August 2008, which were won by Pioneer Road Services 

and the work was performed in March and early April 2009. 

Pioneer Road Services was the principal 

contractor, responsible for manufacturing 

and placing asphalt, as well as all 

ancillary operations such as profiling, 

surveying, line marking and lighting. 

Technical consultants were Airpave 

Australia Pty Ltd and contract administration 

by Sinclair Knight Merz Pty Ltd. 

Client requirements 

The 2.4 kilometre runway is approximately 

42 metres wide, with an area of 

over 100,000 square metres. Pioneer 

Road Services was required to: 

• Texture profile the existing runway 

surface to remove the top 10 mm; 

• Manufacture and place asphalt to 

specifications; 

• Operate within a window from 6pm to 

6am, with the possibility of interruption 

due to late scheduled arrivals 

or departures; 

• Allow for unscheduled flight arrivals 

or departures by the Royal Flying 

Doctor Service; 

• Complete each section in time to 

allow scheduled flight arrivals; 

• Remove and replace runway lighting 

and reinstate line marking; and 

• Preserve airside security in operational 

areas under PRS control during 

airport operating hours; 

Project challenges and solutions 

Bitumen supply 

The greatest challenge came from the 

project’s scale and remote location. This 

required 1100 tonnes of multigrade 

bitumen to be transported from 

Brisbane and at a frequency that would 

allow the project to proceed without 

delay or interruption. The bitumen was 

delivered in triple-tanker road trains, 

each carrying about 60 tonnes. Shell 

Multigrade 1000/320 was specified and 

used on the project. 

The solution was to forward store 

about one-third of the requirement at 


the site and rely on regular deliveries to 

supply the balance as the project 

progressed. This store would also act as 

a buffer in the case of delays in supply. 

Aggregate supply 

A suitable supply of local aggregate was 

essential. After some searching 

aggregate meeting the specification was 

successfully extracted and deliveries 

commenced on time from the supplier, 

Cemex. 

The mix design was a 14mm AC and 

all stone was sourced from a local 

quarry. No fillers were used in the mix 

design. 

New mobile plant 

An Astec double drum, 300 tonne-perhour 

mobile asphalt plant, nicknamed 

Hulk 2, was delivered to site from the 

Port of Brisbane and despite delays in 

its delivery due to unexpected rain in 

Queensland,the plant was set up and 

commissioned in just over three weeks, 

well in time for its project debut. 

Extended time window 

Most airport projects restrict paving 

operations typically to about six hours. 

Alice Springs was able to offer 12-hour 

windows, 6pm to 6am, which created 

both opportunities and challenges. This 

included the need to manage material 

supply and plant, and the potential for 

fatigue-induced safety incidents. Safety 

requirements were therefore strictly 

enforced. All those on site – contractors 

In the previous edition of Asphalt 

Review a case study on the 

Victorian Deer Park Bypass project 

undertaken by AAPA member 

Boral Asphalt was highlighted. 

This time another case study is 

provided, the Alice Springs Airport 

Runway Overlay completed under 

budget and early by AAPA member 

Pioneer Road Services. 

and PRS staff – were required to attend 

a daily toolbox meeting and were issued 

with two-way radios. 

Dust control 

The many vehicle movements on the 

airport’s perimeter roads disturbed the 

area’s fine, sandy soil. Two water carts 

circulated almost continuously to settle 

dust and reduce the hazard for the 

airport and project staff. 

Brown snakes 

The presence of deadly brown snakes in 

long grass on the runway verges was 

identified early in the project. This led 

to a rethink of operational procedures, 

including retraining in snake bite procedures 

conducted by the crew manager, 

a qualified first aider with experience in 

this subject, and the supplementing of 

first aid supplies. Fortunately there 

were no incidents and the snakes 

quickly retreated, possibly disturbed by 

the unexpected nocturnal activity. 

Inexperienced carters 

The project required a steady stream of 

trucks delivering fresh asphalt from 

Hulk 2 to the paver. Backing up to a 

paver hopper requires precision to 

ensure the paver isn’t bumped, causing 

a hump in the pavement mat. This 

becomes an even greater challenge 

working at night under lights. Most of 

the local carters were inexperienced in 

this procedure, requiring strict oversight 

by the crew manager until they reached 

a suitable level of proficiency. 

Construction management 

The resurfacing or re-sheeting of airport 

runways, especially those carrying 

heavy, fast jet traffic, is possibly the 

most difficult asphalt project. Not only 

are the logistics of site access a 

challenge, but the standards of material 

specification, compaction, levels and 

rideability are all major issues. The 

relative isolation of Alice Springs


created additional challenges with long 

supply lines for specialist personnel, 

equipment and raw materials. 

The asphalt was produced in the new 

mobile double drum asphalt plant on 

site adjacent to the runway and easily 

accessed from the Stuart Highway. This 

new plant offered state-of-the-art 

emission controls, excellent energy 

efficiency and a reliable output of up to 

300 tonnes per hour. 

Site tidiness is an important issue on 

runways, as even small stones or litter 

can be sucked into a jet engine with 

catastrophic results. To this end PRS 

employed two suction sweepers to 

ensure the area was cleaned thoroughly. 

Food scraps were of particular concern, 

as these could attract birds, which could 

place aircraft in danger. 

All mobile plant, including a comprehensive 

range of backup equipment, 

was housed in a compound on the 

airport site, with easy access to both 

landside and airside. 

Innovations on the project in 

concept and implementation 

Pioneer Road Service was able to 

identify three changes to the project 

specification that enabled significant 

costs savings to be made. 

These changes were possible because 

there was access to the runway from 

6pm to 6am. 

• Most major runway projects utilise a 

Shuttle Buggy, a mobile asphalt 

hopper that interfaces between the 

truck delivering asphalt and the 

paver. It allows for the paver to lay in 

long runs with minimal stops, thus 

improving efficiency and smoothness. 

The extended time window obviated 

the need for this and the requirement 

was deleted prior to tender. 

• As is the usual practice, the project 

specification originally called for two 

asphalt crews. Again, the longer time 

window obviated the need for this 

approach and a single crew was 

recommended to the client and 

ultimately deployed. This had the 

added advantage of easing supply 

logistical pressures – but by no means 

eliminating them, thanks to the long 

supply lines – and allowing the 

asphalt plant to operate at its optimal 

efficiency. 

• The specification called for two 

profiling machines, with one on 

standby. However both were pressed 


An aerial view of the resurfaced runway at Alice Springs Airport. 

into service, relieving a common 

bottleneck in the paving process and 

further improving operational 

efficiency. 

The latter two changes, made in full 

consultation with the client and their 

technical advisers, led to a saving of 

$300,000 being passed to the airport 

owner. 

Interface with other project 

parties 

The Pioneer Road Services team, as the 

head contractor, was in constant 

communication with the airport owner, 

their technical adviser, Airpave, and 

Sinclair Knight Merz, the contract 

administrators. Formal meetings were 

held weekly and attended by all parties. 

The high level of communication 

advantaged both sides. For example, 

there were several occasions where a 

late aircraft arrival and a delayed 

departure could have caused considerable 

lost time. However, both parties 

were able to work around this and 

minimise disruption and eliminate 

delays. 

Although the runway was closed 

during project hours to regular traffic, 

the Royal Flying Doctor Service still 

required access, albeit on a shorter 

take-off and landing than commercial 

jet traffic. Training of the crew in 

advance of these unpredictable events 

was critical to ensure that there were no 

delays to the flights and to meet 

production plans. 

Technical complexity 

Asphalt paving sites are inherently 

complex and fast moving, but none 

more so than an airport runway renewal 

project at night. The asphalt plant, its 

stockpiles, storage resources and 

associated facilities were located 600 

metres off the runway. The paving site 

was constantly moving along the 

runway, populated with tack coat 

sprayers, steel rollers and multi-tyred 

rollers, a suction sweeper and a skid 

steer loader. Working up to 300 metres 

ahead were two profilers, texturing the 

top 10mm from the existing pavement. 

Servicing these activities was a 

constant stream of trucks taking away 

the profiled asphalt and bringing fresh 

asphalt to the paver. The latter alone 

would require over 100 truck 

movements on a typical shift, resupplying 

the paver every 30 metres. By the 

time paving reached the far end of the 

runway, each truck was making a round 

trip of about six kilometres. 

In all, the PRS team made and laid 

over 22,000 tonnes of asphalt in just 

three weeks. 

Smoothness is an essential characteristic 

of any aspect of any asphalt 

pavement, but critically so in an airport 

runway. Pioneer Road Services was 

required to lay to typically tight tolerances: 

• A smoothness level that cannot 

deviate more than 3mm longitudinally 

and 5mm laterally 

• An overall deviation from the survey 

level of +10mm and -5mm 

These requirements were met, the 

latter being a remarkable achievement 

in a runway 2.4km in length. 

To help reliably achieve these tolerances, 

the Paveset Grade Control 

System was employed. This requires the


pavement to be surveyed 

before and after texturing 

every 3.75 metres laterally 

and 10 metres longitudinally, 

that is, over 2600 

locations on a runway 2.4 

kilometres long and 42 

metres wide. 

The resulting plots are 

fed into a computer on the 

paver which uses this information 

to automatically 

control the laying depth for 

the specified location. 

The area is then surveyed 

for a third time to check the 

final, compacted height to the required 

specification. 

Management of environmental 

issues 

The type of project (re-sheeting rather 

than a new construction) and its relative 

isolation from the city centre and 

adjacent properties all but eliminated 

the potential for environmental degradation, 

and conversely did not allow for 

environmental enhancement. 

The most important environmental 

problem to be surmounted was dust, 

caused by the sandy soil of the airports 

environs. The substantial number of 

vehicle movements around the site – by 

day with raw materials being resupplied, 

and at night as trucks shuttle 

fresh asphalt from the plant to the 

paving site, and remove profiled asphalt 

– required active dust suppression 

measures in the form of two near 

constantly circulating water carts. 

The new mobile asphalt plant, Hulk 2, 

has self-bunded fuel tanks effectively 

eliminating the chance of a spill. 

Resource recycling/reuse 

The demanding material specifications 

that are typically required on airport 

runways precluded the use of recycled 

materials. 

The asphalt material profiled in this 

project was stockpiled in two locations 

on the airport site for future reuse. The 

airport site is typically fine sand and the 

profiled asphalt is highly valued for dust 

suppression, especially in turning nodes 

and blast areas and on perimeter roads. 

Moderate levels of compaction will 

result in paved areas that will function 

almost as effectively as a sealed road but 

without the cost or use of virgin 

materials. 


The daily toolbox meeting was a critical tool for bringing the team 

together and working through the day’s issues. 

Community issues 

Alice Springs Airport is located about 12 

kilometres from the city centre and is 

essentially isolated, its nearest 

neighbour, a backpacker hostel about 

two kilometres distant. This greatly 

simplified the management of night 

operations, as did the low dust and low 

noise operation of the Hulk 2 asphalt 

plant. Community consultations were 

held to ensure that the road trains 

bringing 22,000 tonnes of aggregate to 

the site through the Alice Springs city 

area had minimal impacts on residents 

and business 

The airport’s continuing function is 

vital to Alice Springs and its outlying 

communities, both as a means of 

communication and for the tourists it 

brings. 

A major project such as this also 

brings direct economic benefits 

including lucrative contracts for local 

carters, business for the quarrying 

contractor, and the short-term demand 

for accommodation and meals for the 

many people who came from Darwin 

and further afield for the duration of 

this project. Some 220,000 litres of fuel 

was consumed during the project 

Project planning and 

management 

As the head contractor for this project 

Pioneer Road Services not only provided 

asphalt manufacturing and placement 

services, but was responsible for all 

other aspects of the project: 

• Profiling or texturing, the removal of 

the top 10mm of the existing 

pavement. This was sub-contracted to 

Road Profiling Queensland; 

• Supply of raw materials including 

locally-sourced aggregate; 

• All electrical works, specifically 

runway lighting; 

• Line marking; 

• Cartage contracting. 

The high level of planning 

and the combined experience 

of the PRS team drawn from 

its Australia-wide resources 

came together to ensure this 

challenging project ran 

smoothly, ahead of time and 

below budget. 

Quality control and 

OH&S 

Quality: PRS practice, 

quality documents were set up as part of 

the project management plan. Quality 

assessment was conducted in a comprehensively-equipped, 

onsite laboratory 

which tested raw materials (aggregate 

and bitumen) as well as fresh asphalt 

and core samples. A daily log of test 

results, including those from outside 

sources such as the aggregate supplier, 

was presented to the client. Core 

samples were also obtained for the 

client to retain as control samples. 

Safety: The long shifts, typically 14 

hours for crew, longer for staff, 

combined with overnight operation to 

create a potential safety challenge. This 

was met with the development of safe 

work statements, compulsory daily 

toolbox meetings for all site personnel, 

and strict attention to vehicle 

movements, especially backing procedures 

that were always guided by a 

controller. All staff were issued with 

two-way radios. 

Specifications: A 14mm AC mix was 

specified by the asset owner and their 

technical representative. A key 

parameter was stability which was 

specified as >11.5kN. The average 

results achieved were around 19kN, 

with follow of 2.5 -3.0mm and air voids 

around four per cent. 

Achieving timing and budget 

targets 

Thanks to tight planning and the high 

level of cooperation between the client 

and Pioneer Road Services as the head 

contractor, the project came in ahead of 

time and budget. 

At the project group’s close-out 

meeting on 30 March, the minutes noted 

that “positive comments were made by 

all in regard to the completion of the 

project and the quality achieved.”

SAY NO TO 

BITUMEN BANDITS 

In the last Asphalt Review it was 

reported that dodgy asphalt layers 

were working in Australia. These fast 

moving itinerant people offer 

supposedly bargain prices for asphalt 

work and then deliver sub-standard 

work, work that often won’t stand up 

to a single vehicle. 

According to Consumer Affairs 

Departments and police, these 

“bandits” are once again increasing 

their activities as we enter the 

Australian summer period. 

The term bitumen bandits was used 

in a press release from the Consumer 

Protection agency in Western 

Australia. It accurately describes these 

people who often target the elderly, 

largely in rural or urban fringe areas. 

They often claim that they have just 

completed a bitumen surfacing job 

down the road, and offer left over 

material at bargain prices. However, 

to get these cheap prices the work has 

to be completed and paid for immediately. 

Once completed, the work usually 

fails immediately and the prices they 

offer are not cheap anyway. They also 

then often pressure people into paying 

even more than they quoted once they 

have finished the work. 

We may wonder why people take 

these offers. One reason is that the 

bandits usually look as though they 

are responsible companies frequently 

having modern vehicles and appropriate 

clothing, signage etc. They may 

also represent themselves as being 

part of reputable asphalt companies, 

sometimes with forged business cards. 

The police and Consumer Affairs 

people know many of these scoundrels 

and the vehicles they use, which 

include a number of 2007/08 Hino 

Tippers (some with spreader boxes), as 

well as several older Volvo, Mitsubishi, 

Isuzu and Daihatsu Tippers. However, 

to take action against them the police 

and consumer departments must be 

able to prove that they are breaking 

the law. It is therefore important that 

anyone who has contact with them 

immediately reports the details to the 

relevant state consumer affairs 

department or the police. 

In some cases, bitumen bandits 

work with local entities who process 

cheques for them in exchange for a 

cash payment. These local parties also 

may obtain and deliver materials on 

behalf of the itinerants. 

Local bodies that support these 

bandits should be aware that they are 

likely to be the ones left to handle the 

disputes that will arise. They should 

also be aware that short term financial 

gain may have lasting negative 

impacts on their business and the 

ROADS Advertising 

To reach the decision-makers in the roads field, you should 

consider advertising in ROADS. For information on advertising 

rates, please contact Yuri Mamistvalov at Hallmark Editions, 

Tel (03) 8534 5008 or email yuri@halledit.com.au 


asphalt and pavement industry as a 

whole. 

To protect our industry and the 

community, we must inform people of 

the need to be aware and warn them 

to never accept an offer of immediate 

work for immediate payment. 

People planning an asphalt driveway 

should speak to a reputable company 

first, get a written quotation detailing 

the work to be done or at least read the 

AAPA publication Asphalt Driveways 

and Pathways. This highlights the 

importance of preparation of 

pavement bases, something the 

bitumen bandits do not do. This 

publication is available free of charge 

from the AAPA website 

(www.aapa.asn.au). 

We should also not supply materials 

or equipment to these bandits, even 

when they offer cash payments. If they 

can’t get asphalt or bitumen, then they 

will not be able to put pressure on 

people to receive their substandard 

work. 

Several state Consumer Affairs 

Departments are currently planning 

campaigns in rural papers to warn 

potential victims of the Bitumen 

Bandits. We all need to back these 

campaigns and ensure that we in no 

way support the stand-over tactics 

and substandard work of these 

unscrupulous people. 

If you have any information about 

these Bitumen Bandits, contact your 

state Consumer Affairs Department. 

Consumer Affairs Victoria - Phone: 

1300 55 8181 or email 

itinerant.traders@justice.vic.gov.au. 

New South Wales Office of Fair Trading 

- Phone: 13 32 20 

Western Australian Department of 

Consumer and Employment Protection 

- Phone 1300 30 40 54 

Queensland Office of Fair Trading – 

Phone: 13 13 04 

South Australian Office of Consumer & 

business Affairs - Phone: (08) 8204 

9777 

Tasmanian Consumer Affairs & Fair 

Trading - Phone: 1300 654 499. 



ASPHALT A CRITICAL 

COMPONENT OF ALL 

TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE 

It appears that Australia has survived the worst of the world economic crisis and has done so with less 

impact than in most other countries. Some of this has been due to the recognition by Australian 

Governments of the importance of transport infrastructure to the economy. 

Transport infrastructure provides the essential links across our whole nation to allow for goods and 

materials to be freely moved and to ensure that our communities remain connected. 

As well as providing corridors for commerce and communication, the construction and maintenance of 

infrastructure also provides a large number of direct and indirect jobs. Road construction and maintenance 

crews are just one part of the overall transport infrastructure work force. 

In the road construction industry, we understandably usually focus on roads, but there are other parts of 

transport infrastructure that are also important. Rail is also a key part of our society and must to be 

developed and maintained alongside roads. Recognising this, the governments of Australia are currently 

supporting many significant rail projects, projects. 

Like road development, railways must be maintained to a high standard to provide efficient, safe and 

reliable travel. This requires new railways to be built with appropriate cost effective and long life materials 

that can safely handle the increasing speed and mass of trains. Existing railways must also be maintained 

to ensure they are safe and reliable. 

One way to improve the safety, efficiency and reliability of railways is to use asphalt in their manufacture 

and maintenance. This is highlighted in the following article prepared by Prof Jerry Rose from the University 

of Kentucky. 

RAILS RIDING ON ASPHALT IN THE 

UNITED STATES AND ELSEWHERE 

By Jerry G. Rose, P.E. 

The continued growth in traffic 

volumes, revenue ton-miles, and wheel 

loadings on the United States freight 

railroads has prompted research to 

evaluate new technologies to provide 

higher quality and longer lasting track 

and support structures. Similar studies 

are on-going in several European and 

Asian countries. 

To meet this challenge, the railroad 

companies and the asphalt paving 

industry have developed designs and 

applications for using hot mix asphalt 

(HMA) to replace a portion of the 

conventional granular material. 


HMA is now being used in new 

mainline tracks, yards, and terminals. It 

is also being used for trackbed maintenance 

and as a solution for instability 

problems in existing trackbeds. These 

trackbed solutions include installing a 

layer of HMA during the rehabilitation 

of turnouts, railroad crossings, bridge 

approaches, defect detectors, hump 

tracks, tunnel floors and approaches, 

highway crossings, and loading facilities 

where conventional trackbed 

designs and support structures have not 

performed satisfactorily. 

Two Designs 

Two HMA designs are used to support 

the railway track structure. The most 

common design in the U.S. is known as 

HMA Underlayment, in which the HMA 

layer is placed directly on select 

subgrade or old roadbed. A layer of 

ballast is placed on the HMA layer on 

which the track is positioned. This 

design changes little from normal 

trackbed design, since the HMA layer 

merely replaces the granular subballast 

layer. The HMA layer is similar to a 

paved lane of a highway, except it is 

contained within the track structure to

form a structural hardpan layer between 

the ballast and the subgrade or existing 

roadbed. 

Notable installations in the U.S. 

include the BNSF Railway’s extensive 

use of the underlayment design on 

portions of their heavy traffic transcon 

line and coal-hauling lines in the midwest 

section of the country. For many 

years the Italian State Railways has 

extensively used asphalt underlayment 

(known as “bituminous subballast”) for 

new high-speed line railway 

construction. It is a standard for 

particular types of new rail lines. In 

addition, the Japanese Rail System 

recently adopted “performance-based 

design method” specifies asphalt 

roadbed with ballast for Rank II track 

designs and asphalt roadbed is an 

alternate for Rank I ballastless slab 

track design. 

HMA Overlayment design involves 

placing the HMA layers in a similar 

manner, except no ballast is used 

between the HMA layer and the railroad 

ties. The ties are placed directly on the 

HMA surface. Cribbing aggregate is 

then placed between the ties and at the 

end of the ties to restrain track 

movement. This design is used primarily 

in Europe as a version of slab track with 

two-block concrete ties. The German 

Federal Railway Authority is a classic 

European specifier of the HMA 

Overlayment design. One particular 

system is known as the GETRAC 

Ballastless Track System on Asphalt. 

The HMA Overlayment design is not 

as readily adaptable to current U.S. 

railroad construction and maintenance 

practices as is the HMA underlayment 

design. This article concentrates on the 

more utilized HMA Underlayment applications. 

Benefits of HMA Underlayment 

The benefits of an HMA underlayment, 

as determined by research tests and 

observations over the past 25 years 

include: 

• A strengthened track support layer 

below the ballast to uniformly 

distribute reduced pressures to the 

roadbed or subgrade. 

• A waterproofing layer and 

confinement to the underlaying 

roadbed to provide consistent loadcarrying 

capability of track 

structures—even on roadbeds of 

marginal quality. 

• An impermeable layer to divert water 

to side ditches, essentially eliminating 

roadbed moisture fluctuations, to 

consistently maintain adequate 

underlying support. 

• A consistently high level of 

confinement for the ballast to provide 

high shear strength and uniform 

pressure distribution. 

• A resilient layer between the ballast 

and roadbed to reduce the likelihood 

of subgrade pumping without 

substantially increasing track 

stiffness, and 

• An all-weather, uniformly stable 

surface on which to place the ballast 

and track superstructure. 

Heavy Freight and High Speed 

Railways that most benefit from HMA 

underlayment are those having heavy 

freight traffic or high speed passenger 

traffic, where one or more of the 

following conditions exist or are anticipated: 


A two per cent cross slope is specified. Positioning a new track on the BNSF transcon project prior to 

adding the ballast and ‘pulling the track up’ to achieve the 

desired thickness of ballast. 

• Difficulty in establishing and 

maintaining a sufficiently strong and 

stable roadbed (hardpan) to 

adequately support the ballast and 

track. 

• Difficulty in establishing and 

maintaining proper surface drainage 

to convey surface water away from 

the track structure. 

• Difficulty in preventing ground water 

from weakening the track structure, 

and 

• Abnormally high impact stresses at 

joints, bridge and tunnel approaches, 

other special track works, or open 

track where track stiffness varies 

abruptly. 

Areas where these conditions exist are 

likely to show rapid track contamination, 

excessive wear of track 

components, and below standard track 

geometric parameters. Maintenance 

costs become too expensive to continue 

safe line speed operations so “slow 

orders” must be imposed, which reduce 

operating efficiency. 

Trackbed Design 

Recommended HMA specifications, 

trackbed section designs, and application 

practices have evolved over the 

years. Slight variations from the initial 

mix designs and construction 

techniques are typical and have not 

affected trackbed performance. 

The HMA mix that has the best 

properties for the track structure is a 

low to medium modulus (plastic) mix, 

having design air voids of 1 to 3 percent. 

The mix will easily compact to less than 

5 percent air voids in place. A local 

dense-graded highway base mix with a 

minimum aggregate size of 25 to 37 mm 



(1.0 to 1.5 inches) is typically 

specified. 

Ideally, the asphalt binder 

content can be increased by 

about 0.5 percent above 

optimum for highway applications 

because rutting and 

bleeding are not concerns in 

the insulated trackbed 

environment. This is similar 

to the bottom, or fatigue 

resistant, asphalt layer of the 

perpetual pavement system 

being promoted for highway 

pavements in the U.S. 

Stiff but Resilient 

Long-term monitoring and 

testing of in-service trackbeds 

indicate that this low voids, 

impermeable mix, undergoes minimal 

oxidation from the effects of air and 

water. The mix is also isolated from 

extreme temperature fluctuation 

within the insulated trackbed 

environment. 

The mix provides a layer with 

reasonably consistent stiffness in hot 

weather but is slightly resilient in cold 

weather. Furthermore, the tendencies 

for the mix to rut and bleed in hot 

weather and crack in cold weather are 

significantly reduced, thus ensuring a 

long fatigue life for the mix. 

Tests on subgrade/roadbed samples, 

obtained directly under the HMA layer, 

indicate that the in-situ moisture 

contents are very close to optimum 

values for maximum density of the 

materials. For structural design 

analyses, it is reasonable to base 

bearing capacity values at optimum 

conditions for the material under the 

HMA layer. 

Width and Thickness 

The predominate HMA layer width is 

3.7 to 4.3 m (12 to 14 feet) for open 

track, but the width is wider under 

special trackwork, such as turnouts, to 

provide support under the longer ties. 

The thickness of the HMA layer 

varies depending on the quality of the 

roadbed (subgrade) support and traffic 

loadings. A 125- to 150-mm (5- to 6inch) 

thick layer is normally used for 

average conditions. For unusually poor 

roadbed support conditions, and high 

impact areas, a minimum of 20 mm (8 

inches) is used. Ballast thickness 

normally ranges from 200 to 300 mm 

(8 to 12 inches). A 150 mm (6-inch) 


Placing asphalt underlayment on the Wichita, KS elevated track 

section for the mainlines of the BNSF and UP railways. 

HMA thick layer that is 3.6 m (12 feet) 

wide requires 1.25 metric tons per 

track meter (0.42 tons per track foot). 

The HMA layer should extend a 

reasonable length beyond the ends of 

special trackwork so that subsequent 

track surfacing operations and any 

impact from track stiffness changes 

will not infringe on the area. 

The roadbed should be reasonably 

well-compacted, well-drained, and 

capable of accommodating the hauling 

and spreading equipment without 

excessive rutting or deformation. A 

slight crown on side slope is desirable. 

The need for sub-surface drainage or 

roadbed support improvements, prior 

to placing the HMA, depends on site 

specific conditions.8 

KENTRACK 

The structural design of railway 

trackbeds containing HMA underlayment 

can be performed using 

KENTRACK, a finite element 

computer program. The primary 

governing factor is limiting the vertical 

compressive stresses, or permanent 

deformation, on the subgrade. 

For the HMA layer, the tensile 

strains at the bottom of the HMA layer 

control its service life. Damage 

analyses are conducted and used to 

predict the service life of the trackbed 

components for various combinations 

of traffic, tonnages, subgrade support, 

and component layer compositions 

and thicknesses. 

For all your road needs, go 

to www.roadsonline.com.au 

Installation Practices 

The construction of new rail 

lines and extensions, classification 

yards, and intermodal 

terminals are ideal conditions 

for HMA underlayments. 

These are normally large 

paving projects with exposed 

subgrades that are readily 

accessible to conventional 

asphalt paving equipment for 

placing the HMA layer prior 

to placing the ballast and 

track. Typical highway paving 

technology can be used. 

New intermodal yards use 

HMA for all or portions of the 

new track construction. A 

particular advantage is the 

waterproofing characteristics of the 

HMA layer and the positive drainage 

system that can be used in the design 

of the loading area. 

Maintenance and Rehabilitation 

Maintenance and rehabilitation of 

existing rail lines, using current 

technology, requires that the track 

must be removed and the underlying 

material excavated to the desired 

grade. The existing roadbed material 

should be reasonably compact and 

capable of providing adequate 

support. 

The HMA is hauled by dump trucks. 

For short track sections, it is common 

to dump the mix and spread it to the 

desired configuration. Paving 

machines can be used for longer 

sections where manoeuvrability 

permits. Conventional compaction 

equipment is used. Placing and 

compacting the ballast and 

positioning the tracks completes the 

process. It is not necessary for the 

HMA to cool prior to placing the 

ballast. 

HMA underlayment provides 

excellent support for heavy freight rail 

traffic and high speed passenger 

traffic on subgrade that cannot 

adequately sustain heavy weights and 

high speeds. HMA continues to be the 

working solution of choice to counter 

railway trackbed instability. 

Jerry G. Rose is a professor in the 

Civil Engineering Department of the 

University of Kentucky. He specialises 

in transportation engineering with an 

emphasis on railway engineering. 

www.engr.uky.edu/~jrose.

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES 

AFFECTING THE 

ASPHALT INDUSTRY 

In 2008, AAPA became an inaugural member of the Global Strategic Alliance of Asphalt Pavement 

Associations (GSAAPA). This alliance brought together the Australian, European, US, South African and 

Japanese Associations. 

One of the first tasks of the Alliance was 

to identify the key issues affecting the 

bituminous surfacing industry across 

the world. The results of that survey 

have now been released and it is interesting 

to note that there are many issues 

common across the world. 

The issues were divided into seven 

categories: 

• Environmental Affairs; 

• Occupational Health and Safety; 

• Marketing and Promotion of Asphalt; 

• Awareness and Implications of 

Changes and Trends of Global 

Markets; 

• Engineering and Technology 

Developments; 

• Training and Education; 

• Research and Development; 

The key responses are listed below: 

Environmental Affairs 

The major environmental issue worldwide 

was identified as carbon dioxide 

emission and greenhouse gas emissions. 

It was recognised that the industry 

requires a generic tool to determine 

carbon emissions over the whole 


lifecycle of bituminous surfacing, from 

the extraction of hydrocarbons and 

stone to asphalt and spray sealing 

laying. There also needs to be an 

exchange of information on means to 

reduce carbon emissions including, but 

not limited to, warm mix asphalt. The 

significant greenhouse benefits of 

asphalt surfacing over other materials – 

particularly concrete, also deserve to be 

promoted. 

Recycling of asphalt was identified as 

another key environmental issue. In 

particular, there is a need to develop a


better exchange of information on 

technical issues associated with 

RAP, including impacts on road 

durability, experience in promoting 

the acceptance of RAP and the 

ability to manage contaminants. 

Occupational Health and Safety 

Concern about the potential impact of 

bitumen fumes and the management 

of bitumen as a hazardous material 

was identified as a major occupational 

health and safety issue although the 

IARC Report on fuming will alleviate 

these concerns. However due to its 

temperature, bitumen is still a hazardous 

material to handle and there must remain 

constant exchange of information 

between the world asphalt associations to 

share knowledge in this important safety 

area. 

Equally, work zone safety for both 

workers and the public is of high importance, 

in particular enforcing speed 

limits of the public passing work sites. 

Marketing and Promotion of Asphalt 

To promote the use of asphalt it was 

recognised that there must be an appropriate 

and consistent means of 

transferring knowledge to decision 

makers, environmental groups and the 

general public. These must be simple 

documents or documents highlighting 

the benefits of bituminous pavements. 

They must also be based on statistically 

reliable data and should include information 

on life cycle benefits and on the 

benefits of long-life, durable asphalt 

pavements to limit periodic interventions 

and traffic disruption on high 

volume roads. 

The CO2 and Greenhouse benefits of 

bituminous materials should be 

highlighted as should the ability of 

bituminous pavements to be fully 

recycled. 

Awareness and Implications of Changes 

and Trends of Global Markets 

For the industry to continue to develop 

it was recognised that it must be aware 

of the Global trends in bitumen supply 

and demand. This includes being aware 

of changes in crude oil pricing and 

bitumen supply. It also requires being 

aware of the availability of bitumen to 

meet individual standards, for example 

in Australia where there appears to be a 

trend towards imported bitumen. 

Exchange of information on road 

asset management and practice in the 

different global regions including issues 


relating to financing, operating and 

management of roads, was identified as 

a potential opportunity. This could 

include providing information on the 

international trend towards PPP and 

functional contracts. This could lead 

developing common conclusions and 

positions and possibly a joint network 

with stakeholders from public and 

private banking sectors, as well as World 

Bank, on new financial instruments in 

road building. 

Maintaining current information on 

climate change was also identified as a 

key issue that could impact on global 

markets. 

Engineering and Technology 

Developments 

As could be expected, the international 

Asphalt Pavement Associations 

identified many current technical issues 

and the need for each country to share 

its expertise and experience. As many 

would expect, the current highest 

priority issue was warm mix asphalt 

technology. All countries identify the 

need to accelerate the adoption of warm 

mix through technology transfer, 

continued research and the quantifying 

of benefits. 

It was seen as vital to expand the 

adoption of long life pavements 

(perpetual pavements). Thin layers were 

also identified as being high priority 

area. 

Training and Education 

Training and education was identified as 

a key issue across the world with many 

current priority issues. These include 

the need to share the content of courses 

across the skills requirements of the 

industry leading to the development of 

joint manuals for training and education 

of the workforce. However, it was also 

recognised that these must be adapted 

to regional requirements. 

Skill transfer, from elder skilled 

workers to younger workers was 

identified as a priority issue as was 

the need to encourage mentorship to 

address the increasingly scarce 

human resources and skills. Along 

with developing skills for new 

workers, the retention of experienced 

staff through training and the 

offering of qualifications was 

identified as a means of retaining 

skills. Skilled staff may also be used 

to present training. 

To better understand current and 

future training and education requirements 

there is a need to analyse the 

future skill requirements of the 

workforce and to adapt the education 

systems to improve the quality of 

pavement engineers (eg Japanese 

System for Qualification Tests for 

Pavement Management Engineers). 

Research and Development 

Most Asphalt Pavement Associations 

are involved in research and development 

either directly and through their 

members. A key issue was therefore to 

develop research needs statements that 

could support the identification of 

research priority areas. These should 

also be periodically aligned to industrial 

and commercial needs. 

Research outcomes, particularly 

relating to innovation, need to be recognised 

across political boundaries in 

order to reduce duplication. 

Opportunities for joint funding of 

research projects, particularly where 

there are areas of common interest need 

to be identified and there must be an 

effective exchange of experiences across 

research consortia. In some cases there 

may be opportunities for the exchange 

of experts between the alliance partners 

and association members. 

Comment 

The survey conducted under the 

GSAAPA shows that many of the issues 

affecting the bituminous surfacing 

industry are common across the world. 

This provides an opportunity for significant 

sharing of information. This can 

be information on current technical 

research projects or experience in areas 

such as training and promotion. This 

can lead to the faster application of new 

technologies such as warm mix asphalt 

and recycled asphalt and support for 

long life pavements to achieve better 

outcomes for the industry and the 

community at large.

HIGH PERFORMANCE 

GREENPAVE ASPHALT TRIAL 

In the January edition of ROADS 

magazine, Citywide reported that its low 

emission warm asphalt mix, Greenpave, 

had been laid at 17 sites across 

metropolitan Melbourne for seven 

councils - Melbourne, Boroondara, 

Wyndham, Moreland, Yarra, 

Manningham and Darebin. 

Each of these councils acknowledged 

the need to investigate the use of 

alternate environmentally sustainable 

products and their commitment to 

achieve zero net emissions by 2020. 

VicRoads came on board earlier this 

year to initiate a major trial on the 

Melbourne, Deer Park Bypass, five 

kilometres east of Caroline Springs. 

Citywide laid approximately 350 tonnes 

of Greenpave at the site, along approximately 

500 metres of highway, with the 

shoulder laid with traditional hot mix. 

Fourteen millimetres dense grade 

asphalt was chosen to enable 

comparison between mixes over the 

trial. The following report outlines the 

trial process and outcomes to date. 

Trial process and monitoring 

The trial commenced with extensive 

laboratory testing and will be combined 

with on-site monitoring to ensure that 

Greenpave meets performance requirements 

for VicRoads pavements. A 

12-month observation period of the trial 

site over four seasons with traffic 

counting has commenced. 

In establishing the trial, VicRoads set 

a number of test parameters: 

• Greenpave and hot mix control 

sections paved; 

• independent testing and evaluation by 

ARRB; 

• production and paving temperatures 

monitored and recorded; 

• ARRB commissioned to perform 

“standard” and “advanced” investigations 

of Greenpave asphalt 

performance versus hot mix 

benchmark (control section). 

Testing and investigation 

VicRoads has also undertaken standard 

and advanced investigations of the 

Greenpave asphalt mix, including wheel 

tracking tests to measure and compare 

rut depths of both samples and aspects 

of material workability, such as temperature 

and material density before and 

after compaction. 

Modulus comparison based on ARRB 

prepared cylindrical specimens 

(resilient modulus) were undertaken 

and fatigue beams were manufactured 

for testing and comparison. 

Advance investigation to be conducted 

includes moisture sensitivity testing in 

which three samples of each asphalt will 

be tested in an “unconditioned” state, 

and three of each will be moisture 

conditioned and tested. 

Strength ratio of each mix will be 

reported and compared. Curing tests 

will be held to determine the short-term 

relationship between asphalt age and 

resilient modulus (strength) and 

moisture content tests will be undertaken 

to determine and compare the 

rate of evaporation from each mix type. 

During laying, Greenpave exhibited 

better flow characteristics than the 

traditional hot mix and nuclear 

densometer testing showed 98-100% 

density. The bitumen levels were within 

specified ranges and a sieve analysis 

confirmed the correct mix of particles 

was utilised. 

Performance outcomes 

It has now been over a 18 months since 

the first tonne of Greenpave was laid in 

Kay Street Carlton, Melbourne and the 

performance benefits are evident. 

Given the recent interest of the ACCC 

around ‘green’ claims, Citywide sought 

to understand the life cycle greenhouse 

gas (GHG) emissions associated with its 

operations to make robust assertions of 

the environmental benefits associated 

with the Greenpave asphalt, with the 

possibility in the future of making the 

product “carbon neutral”. 

Citywide has built on a number of 

environmental studies on Greenpave 

including Det Norske Veritas which 

produced a report for Shell in 2006 

based on trials of the warm asphalt mix 

product on which Greenpave is based 

(Det Norske Veritas, Air emission 

measurement from Conglobit asphalt 


plant ‘Greenfalt’, Florence, Italy – 

Report No. 2006-3552). Two Citywide 

engineers undertook extensive research 

on the product and verifying this study 

including visits to production sites and 

laboratories in France and Norway in 

2007. 

ETC emissions testing consultants 

completed baghouse stack and asphalt 

monitoring on both Hot Mix and 

Greenpave asphalt at the new Ammann 

North Melbourne facility in June 2008 

(ETC Emission Testing Consultants, 

Report No. 080113r, July 2008). Net 

Balance Management Group, which had 

previously worked with VicRoads to 

calculate the carbon emissions 

associated with a road construction 

project, also conducted a life cycle 

assessment on Greenpave. This was all 

brought together in a final report which 

provides a comparison of the emissions 

associated with Greenpave asphalt and 

hot mix asphalt using a life cycle 

analysis process. 

The audited results confirm that there 

are substantial environmental benefits 

with Greenpave compared to traditional 

hot mix asphalt. A tonne of Citywide 

Greenpave produces 0.0438 tonnes of 

CO2 whereas a tonne of hot mix 

generates 0.0547 tonnes of CO2. It 

should be noted that the Citywide new 

North Melbourne asphalt plant is 

considered one of the most environmentally 

friendly in the southern 

hemisphere and therefore the tonnes of 

CO2 produced is quite likely higher at 

other facilities for hot mix. 

During the year, Citywide produced 

two new Greenpave mix types: 

• Greenpave polymer modified; and 

• Greenpave stonemastic. 

Polymer modified Greenpave is 

designed to be flexible for application on 

areas that move such as bridges and 

concrete decking. 

Stonemastic is denser for application 

in areas with high traffic concentration 

such as wharves, intersections and 



places where there is a high volume of 

heavy vehicle movement. 

For more information contact Citywide 

on (03) 9261 5000. 

BASE COURSE RECYCLES ‘BLACK 

GOLD’ 

Black Gold is a term that is about to 

become synonymous with the asphalt 

industry. 

Twelve months ago, Base Course 

Management decided to integrate their 

profiling business by recycling and 

processing RAP. 

While the asphalt industry has 

accepted the impacts of climate change 

and understands the need for recycling 

asphalt pavements, the industry in 

Queensland is yet to realise the full 

benefits to be gained from the modern 

methods of processing RAP. 

The benefits of RAP are not fully 

realised simply by profiling. A pile of 

crudely processed RAP is like a “black 

crusher run” aggregate product, and 

limits its use in mixes by 20-30%. 

To be used more effectively and to 

extract the maximum value from a true 

sustainability perspective, RAP should 

be fractionated into sized stockpiles 

suitable for mix designs. RAP can be 

fractionated back into the virgin 

aggregate from where it came, and can 

subsequently be blended back into 

various hot mix and warm mix designs. 

With the Queensland Department of 

Transport and Main Roads decision to 

allow RAP in their new mixes from 

2009, Base Course Management’s 

Queensland Manager, Paul 

Montgomery, decided the time was right 

to enter the RAP processing business. 

After searching the globe in 2008 for 

specialised equipment to fit their needs, 


Paul and his Managing Director, Steve 

Gawley, found the solution was right in 

their own back yard. 

Astec Australia could also see the 

market need for a RAP Processor, and 

imported the Prosizer 2612V from their 

sister company Astec Mobile Screens in 

the United States. Base Course needed 

a highly portable, self-powered closedcircuit 

RAP processing plant, and the 

Prosizer 2612 gave them exactly what 

they wanted. 

Astec’s 2612V portable high-frequency 

screening plant is fully self-contained 

and can be easily moved from site to site 

while still processing RAP at high 

production rates. The Prosizer 6’ x 12’ 

multiple deck high frequency screen, 

accepts the raw RAP material, and with 

its high vibratory action, separates the 

RAP back to its original size. 

The high frequency screen utilises an 

aggressive screen vibration directly to 

the screen media with almost no 

amplitude being applied to the screen 

box sides. The high level of RPMs allows 

material to stratify and separate at a 

much faster rate. This produces more 

efficient sizing for finer material, as 

compared to conventional screens – 

perfect for processing RAP. 

Any oversize material from the 

screening process is sent to the on board 

Horizontal Shaft Impactor (HSI). The 

HSI is ideal for breaking down the 

oversize material, separating it without 

‘crushing’ it. This is extremely important 

as we want to keep the original stone 

size intact to maximise the benefit for 

recycling the ‘precious Black Gold’ 

liquid bitumen in the RAP. 

“The asphalt industry is starting to 

really appreciate that by fractionating 

the RAP back to its original sizes, we 

can produce exactly the same products 

that we are using today with virgin 

aggregate, but with a film of ‘Black 

Gold’ bitumen already on it,” Mr 

Montgomery says. 

For further information visit 

www.astecaustralia.com.au or call 07 

3279 1422. 

FULTON HOGAN EXPANDING 

AIRPORT CAPABILITIES 

The airside infrastructure is one of the 

most valuable assets for any airport 

owner. Many owners are continually 

planning how they can best meet the 

needs of their airlines, tenants and the 

travelling public. When an airport needs 

to upgrade its facilities, it can be 

confident that Fulton Hogan offers a 

depth of experience and capability both 

within Australasia and the Pacific 

Islands. 

Its expertise, which has been built up 

over more than 20 years, extends across 

both civilian and military airfields, 

ranging from capital city international 

airports to regional and remote 

airstrips. 

National Airports Manager, Greg 

White, explained that Fulton Hogan’s 

well-tested management capability is 

highly tuned to airport authorities’ 

requirements. Staff understand the 

logistics, security and safety requirements 

of working on runways and other 

“airside” areas. 

“We are used to following strict operational 

rules. We also appreciate the need 

to minimise interruptions to flight 

schedules and commonly operate at 

night to enable work to be completed as 

quickly and as safely as possible. Our 

risk mitigation processes are finely 

tuned to meet client requirements,” Mr 

White says. 

In addition, Fulton Hogan can offer 

customers a full range of services from 

construction, asphalt overlay or 

resealing, through to specialist maintenance 

services such as asphalt 

rejuvenation, linemarking, rubber 

removal and runway friction testing. 

The recently completed RNZAF Base 

at Ohakea is just one example of Fulton 

Hogan’s construction ability to work 

within an active airport environment. 

Not only was the project successfully

completed, it was also recognised by the 

industry and received a “highly 

commended” at the 2008 New Zealand 

Airport Project Year awards. 

In Australia, Fulton Hogan has 

demonstrated its ability to deliver on 

challenging projects through the 

runway extension at Gold Coast Airport 

in Queensland. Fulton Hogan managed 

design changes and supply chain 

challenges to complete the challenging 

project ahead of time and exceeded the 

client’s quality expectations. 

Another strength of Fulton Hogan is 

their expertise in asphalt and specialist 

surfacing products. This has enabled 

them to provide asphalt overlay, 

bitumen sealing and airport-specific 

maintenance services for a range of 

customers with the goal of maximising 

the life of the pavement surface. 

Dunedin Airport, Queenstown 

International Airport and Christchurch 

International Airport each required 

asphalt concrete overlays, including 

transverse grooving and linemarking. 

This work included 80,000 tonnes of 

asphalt over the three runways. 

Specialised services are another area 

where Fulton Hogan excels to provide 

customers with quality services. This is 

also an area Fulton Hogan is looking to 

expand. 

”We are currently looking at the 

acquisition of additional mobile asphalt 

plants, a second runway friction testing 

device, new rubber removal technology 

and additional proprietary products 

aimed at further strengthening our 

asphalt rejuvenation capability” Mr 

White says. 

Fulton Hogan has an experienced and 

well-tested team and processing supply 

chain, which can be adapted for 

metropolitan or remote area airports, 

regardless of whether the scope of the 

project is new construction, a runway 

resurfacing or specialised maintenance 

of the existing asset. 

For further information go to 

www.fultonhogan.com.au. 

HELPING MEET THE DEMANDS 

ON HEAVILY TRAFFICKED ROADS 

Shell Bitumen has a strong involvement 

working with local and state 

government engineers to understand 

the issues they face with their road 

pavements. 

Over the years, these ongoing 

relationships have led to the use of high 

performance bitumen products such as 

the Shell Cariphalte and Multiphalte 

range of modified binders. These 

bitumen products have been specifically 

developed for situations where the 

demands on the road pavement exceed 

the performance offered by standard 

grade bitumens. 

The following case studies show how 

Shell Bitumen products have effectively 

addressed various issues faced by local 

councils and state road authorities. 

The first case study is Nillumbik 

Shire, located 25 kilometres north-east 

of Melbourne. The south of the shire is 

predominantly urban, with commercial 

centres at Eltham and Diamond Creek. 

The shire covers an area of 433 square 

kilometres and has a population of 

about 62,000 people. 

Nillumbik’s road network comprises 

approximately 880 kilometres of mainly 

sealed roads in urban and rural settings 

and therefore experiences both standard 

and high speed traffic. 

In 2004, the council recognised that 

future sealed surfacing work needed to 

factor in the increasing volume of traffic 

and loads that were expected. They had 

experienced some of the issues 

associated with cracking caused by both 

environmental and traffic induced 

factors. 

As Barry Jenkins, Technical Officer 

commented, “We needed to ensure that 

our investment in new seal work was 

maximised and that the expected seal 

life was attained. We recognised that 

standard C170 bitumen could not 

provide the required service levels and 

therefore we needed to consider a range 

of options”. 

In consultation with their sprayed 

sealing contractor, Quality Roads 

Sealing, the decision was taken to trial 

Shell Cariphalte S5E. This bitumen was 

selected on the basis that it would 

provide improved elasticity to address 

environmental cracking as well as 

improved initial binder adhesion. 

Improved initial binder adhesion is an 

important factor to ensure a reduced 


risk of early life aggregate loss. This was 

particularly relevant as many of the 

rural roads in Nillumbik Shire are 

bound by trees shading parts of the seal 

and possibly causing problems. 

Barry Jenkins said, “Using this binder 

we could obtain improved performance 

over C170 bitumen without the need to 

go to a higher polymer content which 

was not warranted. It also offered an 

alternative to using low concentration 

crumb rubber”. 

Following the successful trial in 2004 

Nillumbik has continued to use Shell 

Cariphalte S5E in its sealing program. 

In the 2007/08 program, it was used in 

a 10 millimetre single seal application. 

Ambient temperatures were around 30 

degrees with the bitumen being applied 

at a rate of 1.8 litres per square metre. 

Runs were both full and half width 

varying in length from 400 to 500 

metres in the rural sections and 200 

metres length in the urban. 

Mr Jenkins commented, ”We have 

been very satisfied with the performance 

of this bitumen and our seals 

over the last four years. We have clearly 

seen that the investment of moving to a 

higher performing product combined 

with good seal design and application is 

paying off”. 

Another example of identifying a 

problem and having a bitumen product 

to suit can be found in New South 

Wales, where a rutting issue required a 

different approach. 

The Pacific Highway is one of the 

most heavily trafficked roads in 

Australia, and like so many of 

Australia’s major highways it is 

subjected to the usual mix of increasing 

vehicle numbers, increasing vehicle 

weights and tyre pressures. 



The ability of asphalts using conventional 

binders to resist the impact of 

these forces is decreasing and the 

incidence of rutting is on the increase. 

For this reason road owners are increasingly 

turning to premium binders to 

combat the effects of high volume heavy 

traffic. 

In March 2005, the Heatherbrae RTA 

office contracted Pioneer Road Services 

to mill 9900 square metres of asphalt on 

a section of the Pacific Highway some 

21km north of Newcastle at Motto Farm. 

This was then replaced with 1900T of 

asphalt using Shell Multiphalte 1000/320 

binder. The binder was chosen due to its 

ability to enhance the rutting resistance 

of the asphalt while maintaining the 

flexibility and fatigue characteristics of 

the mixture. The intermediate course 

consisted of a dense graded AC20HD 

mix with a thickness of 60mm. The 

wearing course was a dense graded 

AC14HD mix with a thickness of 40 

millimetres. 

Back in Victoria, the third case study 

involved a very different set of climatic 

and road conditions. Mildura on Sunday 

22 January 2006 was experiencing some 

of the hottest weather possible in 

Victoria with the mercury reaching 49 

degrees. Such high temperatures are not 

uncommon in north-west Victoria and 

with corresponding road surface 

temperatures well in excess of 60 

degrees, spray sealed roads are really put 

to the test. 

The Mildura Rural City Council 

operates their own spray sealing crew 

for their roadwork program, and also 

tender on resealing contracts in 

surrounding shires. In the past few 

years, the team at Mildura has embraced 

new PMB binder technology to address 

the summer road-bleeding problems. 

Having had great success with Shell 

Cariphalte S35E, Mildura Council is 

now using the binder on almost all of 

their reseal projects. 

Geoff Gunn, Manager Infrastructure 

Services, said the council was now 

unlucky if they had one-in-500 

Cariphalte reseals bleed during summer, 

an outstanding result in comparison to 

the problems experienced with standard 

seals in the area. 

The polymers in the Shell Cariphalte 

S35E binder work to reduce temperature 

susceptibility by increasing the bitumen 

viscosity at high temperatures and 

improving elastic recovery under high 


stress loads. This binder is ideal for 

roads with existing repairs and light 

cracking, and where bitumen bleeding 

due to environmental temperatures is a 

problem. 

At the start of the day the air temperature 

was 22 degrees and the road 

temperature 17 degrees, which is close 

to the limit for spraying PMBs and 

requires the stone spreading operation 

in particular to be executed quickly and 

without a hitch. 

The application rate for this 7 

millimetre aggregate reseal was 1.7 

L/m2 . As with any PMB spray seal it is 

very important to get the fundamentals 

right and the Mildura crew produced 

great results. 

For further details, go to 

www.shell.com.au 

NEW GENERATION BITUMEN 

EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE 

World class equipment is now available 

to the bitumen industry in Australia. 

E D Etnyre of Illinois USA – leading 

designer and manufacturer of bitumen 

sprayers, heated bitumen storage and 

transport tanks, self-propelled chip 

spreaders and specialised bituminous 

transport – has teamed up with local 

company, Road System Pty Ltd, for sales 

and service of its quality product range. 

Etnyre has been in the business of 

bitumen equipment for 100 years in the 

USA. 

The Etnyre product range has evolved 

to meet today’s growing needs for 

greater efficiency, lower costs and 

environmental consciousness. It has 

long in-house experience designing and 

manufacturing bitumen equipment for 

US domestic customers and export 

markets. 

All the main components are 

manufactured in house. Tanks, bitumen 

pumps and computer controlled 

bitumen pumping technology are all 

engineered with skill and functionality 

that only experience in a demanding 

industry can bring. 

Getting bitumen and the running 

course applied to the required surface in 

the most quality conscious, cost 

effective, environmentally friendly and 

safe way possible is the one aim. This is 

achieved by working in partnership with 

specifiers and customers from different 

geographical regions where time, 

distance and climate play a major role. 

Recognising the range of requirements 

for the surfacing and maintenance of 

roads and parking areas in large metros 

to small rural communities has seen 

Etnyre tailor its manufacturing and 

product range to enable top class 

equipment to be made available to all 

levels of bitumen application service 

providers, whether surfacing highways 

or driveways. 

Etnyre provides bitumen sprayers as 

packaged units for mounting on a 

customer specified cab/chassis (or for 

trailer mounting onsite). These come 

fully equipped and ready to mount on 

the selected chassis (or trailer) - just 

connect the various systems and it is 

ready for work. Or there is an 

economical trailer-mounted sprayer. 

Etnyre packaged bitumen sprayers 

are available from computer controlled 

15,000 litre units (or custom designed) 

with fixed folding or telescoping spray 

bars for spray sealing main highways, to 

trailer-mounted 2000 litre sprayers. 

Onsite hot bitumen storage is also 

available so customers can be self 

contained. 

Hot bitumen storage tanks from 

25,000 litres are available. 

Etnyre pioneered the self-propelled 

chip spreader. These are efficient at 

placing chip on the surface in the most 

cost effective manner. They have the 

operational flexibility to place the chip 

in increments of 300 millimetres from 

2.5 to 7.3 metres wide with their 

patented telescoping spreading hopper. 

The Etnyre Falcon live bottom trailer 

with a conveyor floor to transport and 

discharge on difficult sites is a unique 

transport solution. Etnyre provide all 

forms of off-the-shelf and custom 

designed bituminous transport 

solutions. 

More information is available from 

www.roadsystem.com.au. 

CATERPILLAR PAVER DELIVERS 

THE PERFECT FINISH 

Change is never easy and for one of 

Australia’s leading paving contractors,

changing from a competitive paver used 

for the past 12 years to a Caterpillar 

paver was a major decision. 

“We couldn’t be happier now though,” 

says Peter Christie of Pioneer Road 

Services (PRS). Incorporated in 1966, 

PRS is in the business of pavement 

construction, maintenance and rehabilitation, 

with annual turnover exceeding 

$300 million. 

“We give the Caterpillar paver 10/10 

for performance and reliability, and the 

support from our Cat dealer, WesTrac, 

is excellent.” 

The Cat ® AP1000D Asphalt Paver was 

the first sold by WesTrac since early last 

year and PRS has kept it busy at 95% 

utilisation. 

“It does everything and more than 

WesTrac said it would,” says Mr 

Christie. “Even the most critical of 

judges, the operators, have had only 

positive words to say.” 

The paver has been working on major 

projects for PRS, including the Sydney 

M4 Freeway, Sheehan Bridge, Hume 

Highway Duplication at Wagga and the 

most exacting of paving jobs – an 

airport runway in the Northern 

Territory. 

The Alice Springs airport runway 

upgrade was completed in April this 

year. The main runway was resurfaced 

and the apron and nodes upgraded. 

Approximately 18,000 tonnes of asphalt 

was laid, with the Cat AP1000D crew 

laying 1,700 tonnes per shift. Also used 

in the project were two Cat PF300C 

pneumatic compactors and two Cat 

CB434D seven tonne vibratory asphalt 

compactors. 

Mr Christie explains that surface 

shape tolerances are critical. “Shape 

deviations were measured continuously 

using a mobile straight edge and we 

were only allowed three millimetres 

tolerance. 

“The worst measured was two 

millimetres and we consistently 

achieved less than two millimetres. 

“Due to the complexity of the project, 

PRS has nominated Alice Springs 

runway for a Civil Contractor’s 

Federation (CCF) Earth Award 2009.” 

The performance of PRS’ first Cat 

paver has been the catalyst for the 

company to invest in another one in 

Victoria. The excellence of Cat design, 

engineering and dealer support will 

continue to help PRS achieve consistently 

high levels of productivity and 

reliability. 

For further information contact your 

local Cat dealer or visit www.cat.com 

WIRTGEN AUSTRALIA OPENS 

NEW SALES AND SERVICE 

CENTRE 

Around 150 customers from Australia 

and New Zealand attended the official 

opening ceremony of the Wirtgen 

Group sales and service company, 

Wirtgen Australia, on August 10 at 

Penrith in Sydney. 

The new building for the Wirtgen 

Group subsidiary was set up in nine 

months and the team moved into the 

modern premises in 2008, relocating 

offices and service workshop from their 

former headquarters in Blacktown. 

The opening featured a machine 

exhibition with products from the 

renowned brands Wirtgen, Vögele, 

Hamm and Kleemann and a customer 

service presentation on spare parts. 


Attention focused on the new 

Compact Line from Hamm, the large 

and small milling machines from 

Wirtgen (a W 2000 and a W 50 DC were 

displayed) and the Vision series of 

Vögele, which is being introduced to the 

Australian market. The exhibition was 

rounded off by a mobile Kleemann 

crusher MC 120 Z. 

With the new and larger facility the 

Wirtgen Group strengthens its local 

presence in the market. The new 

building stands on a 12,500 square 

metre site, including more than 2,000 

square metres of space for sales, the 

workshop, wash bay, spare parts store 

and training facilities. For future plans 

to expand the subsidiary, another 4,000 

square metres are available around the 

new premises. 

Stefan Wirtgen, President of the 

German-based Wirtgen Group; John 

Geary, General Manager of Wirtgen 

Australia and his team inaugurated the 

new building together with customers 

and local guests. 

Four strong brands from a single 

source provider 

Wirtgen Australia was founded in 1986. 

In the early days the company acted as 

a contractor operating milling machines 

until the business could survive on 

machine sales and service support. 

Later, more Wirtgen products like cold 

recyclers and slipform pavers were 

introduced. Today Wirtgen Australia 

offers customers the complete line of 

road building equipment from the 

brands Wirtgen, Vögele and Hamm. 

Three years ago Wirtgen Australia 

entered the mining business with 

Wirtgen surface miners cutting iron ore 

in the Pilbara region of Western 



Australia. And finally with the acquisition 

of Kleemann through the Wirtgen 

Group, Wirtgen Australia is in a position 

to offer a full range of crushing and 

screening technologies to make another 

step within the mineral technologies 

business segment of the Wirtgen Group. 

The new subsidiary: a clear 

commitment and long-term 

investment 

Stefan Wirtgen, President of the 

Wirtgen Group, emphasised the importance 

of the new sales and service centre 

and is very enthusiastic about future 

development: “This new location carries 

big hopes for us. Despite the worldwide 

economic crisis, we at the Wirtgen 

Group want to set a sign for optimism 

and confidence and I think we have 

every reason to do so. I call this new 

sales and service centre a milestone 

because it shows our determination and 

trust in this country and especially in 

our clients, partners and friends here in 

Australia.” 

All Wirtgen Group subsidiaries 

provide professional customer service 

support including spare parts, service in 

the workshop or onsite, application 

consulting or customer training. Having 

this in mind, John Geary was proud to 

present the many opportunities of the 

newly built premises to customers: “The 

subsidiary’s new location and facilities 

afford several advantages. The focus is 

clearly centred on the bigger workshop 

with four machine bays, the professional 

after-sales support, the high spare 

parts availability in our three times 

larger warehouse and the new training 

rooms. 

More information on Wirtgen Australia 

and its complete product range is 

available at www.wirtgen-aust.com.au. 

NEW AUSTRALIAN HQ FOR 

DYNAPAC AND ATLAS COPCO 

CONSTRUCTION TOOLS 

Atlas Copco Construction Equipment, 

the newest division of Atlas Copco 

Australia, has moved into its new 

regional headquarters at Seven Hills in 

Sydney. 

The new division encompasses the 

Dynapac road construction equipment 

business and the Atlas Copco 

Construction Tools business to bring a 

broader offering of the company’s 

construction products and services 

under the one roof. 


The Seven Hills facilities will house 

both the Dynapac and the Atlas Copco 

Construction Tools businesses, 

including Construction Tools’ New 

South Wales hydraulic attachments 

dealer, Rock Tools & Equipment. 

“The aim of the new division is to 

capitalise on synergies between the 

Atlas Copco construction businesses 

and deliver continuous improvement in 

quality and scope in our offer to the 

road, general construction and hire and 

rental industries,” Steve Cartwright, 

General Manager of Atlas Copco 

Construction Equipment Australia, says. 

“The move to the new building, as 

well as recent investments in computer 

systems, will help us to increase 

capacity and efficiency as well as 

offering a modern, high quality working 

environment for our employees.” 

Located at Building G, 22 Powers 

Road, Seven Hills, the new facility has 

large service workshops and 

warehousing facilities. 

According to Mr Cartwright, the new 

building is ideally suited to growth in 

after sales support that customers are 

demanding. “We will be able to offer our 

customers the sophisticated service 

solutions they’ve come to expect from 

us,” he says. 

Customers will also be able to view 

the range of equipment for both 

businesses in the one premises, 

something interstate customers have 

been able to do for a few months with 

Atlas Copco Construction Tools now 

operating from the existing Dynapac 

facilities in Perth, Melbourne and 

Brisbane. 

“These investments have been a long 

time in the planning. We are now 

pleased to move forward with much 

improved facilities and systems in line 

with our market leading position and 

standing as a manufacturer of worldclass 

equipment, Mr Cartwright says. 

For more information on the 

Dynapac product range, visit 

www.dynapac.com.au and for more 

information on the Atlas Copco 

Construction Tools range, visit 

www.atlascopco.com.au. 

BP INVESTMENT IN TOWNSVILLE 

HELPS QUEENSLAND GROW 

BP Australia will make a multi-milliondollar 

capital investment in the 

construction of a new bitumen import, 

manufacturing and distribution facility 

in the Queensland regional city of 

Townsville. 

The complex will meet the massive 

increase in demand for bitumen from 

current and future road infrastructure 

projects in Queensland. 

Kathy Hirschfeld, Managing Director 

of BP’s Bulwer Island Refinery in 

Brisbane, says the State Government is 

embarking on an unprecedented level of 

investment in road infrastructure that 

demands an ongoing supply of quality 

bitumen to make the roads a reality. 

“BP has been providing bitumen to 

support Queensland’s growth for 

decades, and this investment in 

Townsville will ensure the large scale 

supply of bitumen essential to 

improving vital transport routes that 

secure the prosperity of industry, 

business, and communities in north and 

north-west Queensland,” Ms Hirschfeld 

says. 

“Townsville has become a critical link 

for nearly every industry in the region 

and is, without doubt, the right place for 

BP to invest to deliver this region’s 

bitumen needs efficiently and cost effectively.” 

The new facility will be capable of 

supplying approximately 120,000 tonnes 

of bitumen each year – enough for the 

development and maintenance of nearly 

4,000 kilometres of road. This represents 

a 240% increase in BP’s current 

bitumen supply capability out of 

Townsville. 

BP will import paving grade bitumen 

while polymer modified grades designed 

for special applications, such as high 

stress and wear, will be manufactured at 

the new facility. 

BP has leased land at the Port of 

Townsville and construction of the 

facility has already commenced, 

including six storage tanks with a total 

capacity of 18,000 tonnes. Port of 

Townsville Limited is also undertaking 

a significant upgrade to the bulk liquids 

wharf to accommodate the trade. 

It is expected that over 200 

construction workers will be employed 

on-site up until the facility is fully 

commissioned by 2011/12, and six 

workers will be employed on an ongoing 

basis. 

For more information about BP in 

Australia, please visit www.bp.com/au.

Asphalt Review - Volume 28 Number 3 - Australian Asphalt ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?